The court awarded a wrongfully dismissed general foreman damages for the remainder of his fixed-term oral contract, rejecting the employer's argument that a collective agreement's notice provision applied by custom.
The plaintiff, a General Foreman, sued for wrongful dismissal.
The court found he was hired under a fixed-term oral contract for the project's duration.
The defendant argued that the collective agreement, which provided for only four hours' notice, applied by custom, despite the General Foreman position not being covered by the agreement.
The court held that the burden was on the defendant to prove the termination clause was an implied term, which it failed to do.
Consequently, common law principles applied, entitling the plaintiff to damages for the unexpired term of the contract, mitigated by new employment.
