James Heeney

The plaintiff commenced an action for constructive dismissal against her former employer.

The defendants moved to stay the action under Rule 21.01(3) and s. 7(1) of the Arbitration Act, 1991, relying on an arbitration clause in the plaintiff's employment agreement.

The plaintiff argued the arbitration clause was invalid, unconscionable, and contracted out of minimum employment standards.

Applying the competence-competence principle, the court held that the arbitral tribunal must first determine the validity of the arbitration clause.

The action was stayed pending the arbitrator's determination of the jurisdictional challenge.

The defendant, a US citizen residing in Texas, brought a motion to stay the plaintiff's breach of employment contract action on the basis of forum non conveniens.

The plaintiff, a consulting firm with its head office in Toronto, hired the defendant to provide services globally.

The employment agreement specified Ontario law as the governing law.

The court applied the test from Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda and the factors from Young v. Tyco, finding that the defendant failed to demonstrate that Texas was a clearly more appropriate jurisdiction.

The motion to stay was dismissed.

The plaintiff brought a wrongful dismissal action following termination after 14 years of employment as an accounts receivable/payroll administrator.

The primary issue was the appropriate period of reasonable notice and the quantum of damages where the trial occurred before the full notice period had elapsed.

Applying the Bardal factors, the court determined that a reasonable notice period was 12 months.

However, only 10 months had passed since termination and the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence establishing that she would be unable to mitigate during the remaining period.

The court awarded damages for the proven 10 months of unemployment, less amounts already paid, and ordered conditional payment of the remaining two months subject to mitigation if no employment was obtained.