Fiona Martyn

The court found that King Ursa Inc. constructively dismissed Joanna S. McFarlane by demoting her and reducing her salary after her return from maternity leave.

The employer failed to prove that McFarlane did not mitigate her damages.

The court awarded her twelve months’ notice, calculated damages, and moral damages for the insensitive handling of her employment, but declined to find discrimination or award punitive damages.

The court held that Richard Turcotte was constructively dismissed by Grenville Management Inc. when he was unilaterally laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the employment agreement did not permit such a layoff without his consent.

The court rejected the employer’s argument that pandemic-related regulations suspended the right to claim constructive dismissal at common law.

Turcotte was awarded 16 months’ pay in lieu of notice, with no punitive or moral damages, as the employer’s conduct, while problematic, did not meet the threshold for such awards.

The plaintiff, Sharon Gannon, brought a wrongful dismissal action against Kinsdale Carriers Limited following the closure of its trucking business due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court considered whether the plaintiff had advanced notice of the closure and, critically, whether she failed to mitigate her damages by refusing an offer of comparable employment.

The court found that the plaintiff had constructive notice of the impending closure and that she unreasonably rejected a comparable job offer from Zehr Transport.

Consequently, the plaintiff was not entitled to reasonable notice damages.

The Union filed a policy grievance alleging that the Employer modified the Senior Financial Accountant (SFA) position without notice and that the position should no longer be excluded from the bargaining unit.

The Arbitrator found that the Employer had significantly modified the SFA job content and authority between 1997 and 2014, removing managerial and confidential labour relations duties, and failed to notify the Union as required by the collective agreement.

Finding that the SFA position no longer met the statutory or collective agreement criteria for exclusion, the Arbitrator ordered the Employer to move the position into the bargaining unit and pay union dues retroactive to the adoption of the 2014 job description.