The plaintiff, an assistant store manager, was terminated for just cause after failing to prevent a workplace safety violation where a wheelchair-bound employee was lifted to a second floor using an order picker forklift.
The court applied the McKinley contextual approach and found that while the plaintiff's failure to stop the lift was serious misconduct, it did not strike at the heart of the employment relationship to justify summary dismissal.
The court awarded the plaintiff 10 months' salary in lieu of notice, but declined to award aggravated or moral damages.
