A long‑term employee brought a wrongful dismissal action after being laid off and not recalled within the time permitted under the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
The court held that termination deemed under the Act occurs on the first day of layoff and that the common law notice period also runs from that date.
Applying the Bardal factors, the court found a 12‑month reasonable notice period.
However, the employee failed to mitigate his damages by declining a reasonable offer to return to work at a lower wage where no hostile work environment was established.
Damages were therefore limited to the period prior to the rejected offer plus a wage differential thereafter.
