Michael Franc Horvat

The plaintiff, an employment staffing agency, sought an interlocutory injunction against a former Director of Branch Operations and his new employer for alleged breaches of non-solicitation and confidentiality covenants.

The court found the Proprietary Information, Developments Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Agreement to be valid and binding, rejecting the argument of lack of fresh consideration as the agreement was a condition of employment and presented on the first day.

A strong prima facie case was established for the former employee's solicitation of a major client (Cisco) and misuse of proprietary information (knowledge of a former colleague's value to Cisco).

However, no strong prima facie case was found for solicitation of another client (Bank of Montréal) or employee inducement.

The court determined that the plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm from loss of goodwill and market share, which would be difficult to quantify in damages.

The balance of convenience favored granting the injunction.

An employee with 19 years of service brought a wrongful dismissal action after being terminated for cause for submitting falsified medical benefits claims and misrepresenting a fictitious dependent to the employer’s benefits insurer.

The employee argued the falsifications were intended only to draw attention to an administrative error in her benefits profile and also alleged discrimination and harassment related to a workplace injury.

The court found the employee knowingly falsified documents, misled the insurer, and failed to provide truthful explanations during the employer’s investigation.

Applying the contextual approach to dishonesty in employment, the court held the misconduct fundamentally breached the trust essential to the employment relationship, particularly given the employee’s supervisory role.

Claims for wrongful dismissal, bad faith damages, and breach of the Human Rights Code were dismissed.