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Refusal to accept reinstatement defeated wrongful dismissal damages.
The appellant appealed the dismissal of his wrongful dismissal action after the trial judge held that he failed to mitigate his damages by refusing an offer to return to the same position, at the same location, salary, duties, and benefits, shortly after a constructive dismissal.
The appeal argued that the trial judge misapplied the governing mitigation principles and wrongly found no workplace acrimony sufficient to make re-employment unreasonable.
The court held that the trial judge properly applied the framework from the leading Supreme Court authorities, made factual and credibility findings open on the record, and reasonably concluded that a reasonable person would have accepted the return-to-work offer.
The appeal was dismissed and appeal costs were fixed in favour of the respondent.
Employee who refused reinstatement failed to mitigate damages after constructive dismissal.
An employee with 33 years of service brought a wrongful dismissal action after being laid off and subsequently refusing the employer’s offer to return to work.
The court accepted that the layoff constituted constructive dismissal and that the reasonable notice period would have been 24 months.
However, applying Evans v. Teamsters Local Union No. 31, the court held that a reasonable person would have accepted the employer’s prompt offer of reinstatement because the workplace would not have been hostile or humiliating.
The employee therefore failed to mitigate damages by refusing to return.
The claim for damages in lieu of notice and moral damages was dismissed.
