Michael Horvat

The plaintiff, a former owner and vice-president of the defendant company, was terminated without cause 11 months into a three-year fixed-term employment agreement.

He brought a motion for summary judgment for wrongful dismissal.

The court found the termination clause in the employment agreement violated the Employment Standards Act, 2000 by providing a lower standard for 'cause' than the statutory standard for willful misconduct, rendering the entire termination provision void.

The court awarded the plaintiff the balance of his fixed-term contract, totaling 23 months' salary plus benefits, and held that he had no duty to mitigate his damages.

Following a successful summary judgment motion by the plaintiffs in a wrongful dismissal action, the court addressed costs.

One defendant sought costs against the other defendant rather than the plaintiffs, arguing that the other party’s litigation position caused its involvement in the action.

The court rejected that position and held that no costs would be awarded for or against that defendant.

The court found the remaining defendant liable for the plaintiffs’ costs and determined that substantial indemnity costs were appropriate due to the defendant’s unfounded and strategic allegation of termination for cause, which unnecessarily complicated and lengthened the proceedings.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for summary judgment seeking pay in lieu of reasonable notice following termination of a consulting relationship related to the establishment of a Schedule 1 bank.

The defendant bank argued the individual plaintiff was never its employee but rather a consultant engaged through a consulting company.

The court held that, at minimum, the consultant functioned as a dependent contractor given his exclusive work for the bank, integration into its operations, and representation to regulators as a senior officer.

Applying principles from employment law regarding reasonable notice, the court determined that eight months’ notice was appropriate.

Summary judgment was granted awarding consulting fees equivalent to eight months’ compensation plus HST and contractual interest.