Michelle Cook

The plaintiff, Joseph Miller, brought an action against his former employer, Ontario Potato Distribution Inc., for constructive or wrongful dismissal, alleging a hostile work environment due to a threatening incident.

The defendant contended the plaintiff voluntarily resigned.

The court, applying principles of credibility and valid resignation, found the plaintiff failed to prove the alleged incident or the defendant's involvement, concluding the resignation was voluntary.

Consequently, the action for wrongful dismissal was dismissed.

The court also discussed, in obiter, the appropriate notice period and the contentious issue of CERB payment deductibility from damages.

The parties requested corrections to an endorsement released on May 7, 2021.

The court issued an addendum to remove Chubb Insurance Company of Canada and Novex Insurance Company as parties to the applications, and to add a second file number to the citation.

A law firm brought an application for an interpleader order to pay funds held in escrow into court, while a condominium corporation brought a cross-application seeking a mandatory injunction to force the law firm to pay the funds to the City of Toronto for property tax arrears pursuant to a settlement agreement.

The court dismissed the law firm's application, finding it could not use interpleader rules to protect itself from a potential breach of its own undertaking.

The court also dismissed the condominium corporation's application, finding it inappropriate to proceed by way of application without demonstrating a proper legal basis for the requested injunctive relief.