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Leave to amend denied; proposed bad faith and punitive damages claims were legally untenable.
The plaintiff brought a motion under Rule 26.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to amend a statement of claim in a wrongful dismissal action to add claims for bad faith and punitive damages.
The proposed amendments alleged that the employer failed to investigate alleged misconduct and terminated the employee for refusing to participate in conduct contrary to the employer’s code of conduct.
The court held that reasons for dismissal are generally irrelevant to damages in wrongful dismissal and that the pleadings did not disclose actual damages arising from the manner of dismissal as required for Wallace damages.
The proposed allegations also failed to establish an independent actionable wrong necessary to sustain a punitive damages claim.
Leave to amend was therefore refused.
