Paul McKeever

The plaintiff, Robert Barlow, brought a motion for default judgment against his former employer, 6HARMONICS INC., for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.

The defendant failed to defend the proceeding and was noted in default.

The court found that the employment agreement entitled the plaintiff to nine months’ pay in lieu of notice, and the defendant had only paid two weeks’ pay.

The court awarded the plaintiff $184,166.69 in damages, partial indemnity costs, and pre-judgment interest.

Claims for additional damages for mental distress were rejected due to lack of evidence.

The appellant employer appealed a trial judgment finding that it wrongfully dismissed the respondent employee.

The employer argued the trial judge failed to address an important credibility issue regarding whether the employee performed outside consulting work after agreeing not to do so.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the trial judge's finding that the employer's evidence did not substantiate its allegations effectively dealt with the issue.

The plaintiff brought an action for wrongful dismissal after being terminated without notice from a fixed-term employment contract that provided nine months’ pay if ended early.

The employer alleged cause and counterclaimed for conversion and misuse of confidential information, asserting the employee sold a company health and safety manual to another business.

The court found the manual template had been created by the employee prior to employment and remained his property, and that the employer failed to prove misuse of confidential information or breach of directives regarding outside consulting work.

The dismissal for cause was unsupported.

The employee was entitled to contractual damages equal to nine months’ salary.

The appellant investor appealed the dismissal of his action against his investment advisor and brokerage firm for damages arising from advice regarding the sale and acquisition of shares, including Bre-X shares.

The appellant argued the trial judge erred in not finding a fiduciary relationship and in failing to find the advisor's conduct wrongful.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge correctly applied the test for a fiduciary relationship and that the findings regarding the advisor's conduct were supported by the evidence with no palpable and overriding error.

The appellant appealed a trial judgment that awarded punitive damages and solicitor-and-client costs against him arising from a partnership dispute.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no palpable or overriding errors.

The Court noted that the trial judge properly distinguished between the appellant's conduct as a partner, which justified punitive damages, and his fraud and deception on the court, which justified solicitor-and-client costs.