A proactive approach to employment agreement design, in other words, can help mitigate much of the risk associated with the trend toward motions for summary
judgment in wrongful dismissal actions.
In the recent decision in Aylsworth v The Law Office of Harvey Storm, 2016 ONSC 3938, the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the employer's appeal of a summary judgment motion, siding with a legal
assistant in a wrongful dismissal action.
[13] At para. 57 in Honda v. Keays, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed the general damages
allocated in wrongful dismissal actions are confined to the loss suffered as a result of the employer's failure to provide notice and that no damages are available to the employee for the actual loss of his or her job and / or the pain and distress that may have been suffered as a consequence of having been terminated.
An update on Honda and Keays, originally discussed here: An unprecedented $ 500,000.00 punitive damages award against
Honda in this wrongful dismissal action has been decreased to $ 100,000 by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The availability of an increased punitive damage
award in a wrongful dismissal action because of a bad faith employer policy was recognized in Hodson v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.2 The Divisional Court considered an appeal of an order striking paragraphs in the plaintiff's statement of claim that alleged that the Bank had an ongoing corporate strategy of terminating employees for cause to avoid having to provide unwanted employees with a severance package.
The increasing use of summary judgment motions to decide straightforward wrongful dismissal actions has resulted in it now being commonplace for a court to grant judgment
in a wrongful dismissal action before the expiration of the dismissed employee's reasonable notice period.
A presenter explained it is appropriate to charge an hourly
fee in a wrongful dismissal action and in addition take 30 % of funds obtained beyond the initial severance offered to the dismissed employee client, without having to enter into a written contingency fee arrangement.
We also represent employers before all levels of
courts in wrongful dismissal actions, occupational health and safety matters, judicial reviews of decisions made by administrative tribunals and to obtain injunctive relief.
In a wrongful dismissal action, for example, parties would have the right to one motion before trial.
In a wrongful dismissal action a breach by the employer of its contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing can be classified as an actionable wrong that may entitle the dismissed employee to an award of punitive damages.
In a wrongful dismissal action the dispute between the dismissed employee and employer often revolves around the whether the employee's job search was reasonable and whether the employee failed to apply to comparable job positions.
In a decision dated September 10, 2013, a London, Ont., woman became the first person to be awarded human rights damages by the Ontario Supreme Court
in a wrongful dismissal action.
In a wrongful dismissal action the former employee will ask the court to order his or her former employer to award damages (e.g. an award of money) for the employer's failure to provide proper notice of dismissal.
In a wrongful dismissal action the former employee's loss will include the compensation lost a result of the dismissal and, in some cases, mental distress as a result of the bad faith manner of dismissal.
In a wrongful dismissal action, the dismissed employee must lead evidence that he or she has suffered a financial loss (a.k.a. damages) as a result of the loss of employment.