David Whitten

The plaintiff was employed by the defendant hospital network and subsequently seconded to a provincial health agency.

The secondment was terminated early, and the plaintiff's employment was terminated without cause.

The plaintiff brought a motion for summary judgment, arguing the secondment agreement was a fixed-term employment contract entitling him to compensation for the balance of the term, plus 12 months' severance under his original employment agreement.

The court dismissed this claim, finding the secondment agreement was not an employment contract and the plaintiff remained an employee of the hospital network subject to the 12-month termination provision.

The court awarded the plaintiff a $5,000 health care spending account but dismissed his claim for a performance bonus.

The applicant brought a motion to strike several paragraphs from an affidavit filed by the respondent in an underlying application for unpaid wages.

The impugned paragraphs alleged that the applicant was terminated for cause due to sexual harassment and insubordination.

The court found that because the underlying application sought only unpaid wages earned prior to termination and not damages for wrongful dismissal, the allegations regarding cause for termination were clearly irrelevant and scandalous.

The court granted the motion and struck the paragraphs pursuant to Rules 25.11, 38.12, and 39.01(5) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The defendants brought a motion to strike the plaintiffs' claims against all defendants except one corporate entity, relying on an 'Entire Agreement' clause in an independent contractor agreement.

The court treated the motion as one under Rule 21.01(1)(b) rather than Rule 25.11.

The court found that the plaintiffs pleaded sufficient facts to support a reasonable cause of action against the remaining corporate defendants based on the common employer doctrine.

The motion to strike the claims against the four corporate defendants was dismissed, while the claims against the personal defendant and one paragraph of the statement of claim were struck on consent.