Karen Lynne Fields

Appeal of sentences imposed on a corporation and two directors for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act following the death of a worker who fell from an elevated order picker platform.

The trial judge imposed fines of $125,000 on each count against the corporation and 25 days intermittent incarceration on each director.

The appellants challenged the sentences as excessive.

The appellate court allowed the appeal and substantially reduced the sentences, finding that imprisonment was inappropriate for first-time offenders in regulatory matters and that the fines were demonstrably unfit and outside the acceptable range for similar offences.

The defendant employer brought a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful dismissal action where the employee had been terminated with eight months’ compensation in lieu of notice.

The employee claimed damages for wrongful dismissal, moral damages, intentional infliction of mental suffering, and punitive damages.

The court found that the termination occurred in the context of an investigation into alleged misconduct and that the circumstances surrounding the investigation and termination could support claims for additional damages.

Because the plaintiff raised triable issues regarding stigma, alleged bad faith in the termination process, and the assessment of damages, the court held that a full appreciation of the issues required a trial.