Michelle Shelly Henry

The appellant, Mounir Nader, appealed the dismissal of his claim for damages related to the early termination of his secondment agreement with Ontario Health and University Health Network (UHN).

He sought payment for the remaining term of the secondment, 12 months' severance, and a discretionary annual performance-based bonus.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's finding that the secondment agreement was not an employment agreement and that the appellant was only entitled to 12 months' severance under his employment agreement, not additional payment for the secondment term.

However, the Court found the motion judge erred in denying the performance-based bonus, concluding it was an integral part of compensation and should be awarded for the severance period.

The plaintiff was employed by the defendant hospital network and subsequently seconded to a provincial health agency.

The secondment was terminated early, and the plaintiff's employment was terminated without cause.

The plaintiff brought a motion for summary judgment, arguing the secondment agreement was a fixed-term employment contract entitling him to compensation for the balance of the term, plus 12 months' severance under his original employment agreement.

The court dismissed this claim, finding the secondment agreement was not an employment contract and the plaintiff remained an employee of the hospital network subject to the 12-month termination provision.

The court awarded the plaintiff a $5,000 health care spending account but dismissed his claim for a performance bonus.

The applicant employer sought judicial review of two arbitration decisions that allowed a disabled employee to elect to receive severance pay under the collective agreement.

The arbitrator found that the employee, who could no longer perform his job due to a workplace injury, was entitled to elect severance because no other job had been offered to him, meaning no job was 'available'.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's interpretation of the collective agreement and her conclusion that a job must be offered to be considered available were reasonable.

The defendant moved to strike a self-represented plaintiff's wrongful dismissal claim for failure to disclose a reasonable cause of action and on limitation grounds.

The court held the pleading was vague, uncertain, and failed to identify the essential elements of any recognizable breach of contract or wrongful dismissal claim.

Applying ss. 4 and 5 of the Limitations Act, 2002, the court further held that any claim arising from the alleged failure to contact the plaintiff after re-hiring was discovered in 2010 and the 2014 action was therefore statute-barred.

The motion was granted and the action dismissed with fixed costs.