An employee brought a wrongful dismissal claim after her employment as a clinical trials coordinator was terminated without cause after more than eight years of service.
The court determined the effective working notice period was 6.5 weeks because the employer’s revised termination letter replaced the original notice, resetting the notice date.
Applying the Bardal factors, including the employee’s age (64), length of service, professional responsibilities, and limited availability of comparable employment, the court fixed reasonable notice at ten months.
The employer argued the employee failed to mitigate by not applying for hospital nursing positions, but the court held the employer failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that additional efforts would likely have resulted in higher income.
Damages were awarded after deducting mitigation income.
