Wallace damages

Wrongful dismissal update: Alleging just cause is a legal minefield

November 12, 2019 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

A recent case (Headley v. City of Toronto, 2019 ONSC 4496 (CanLII)) shows that alleging just cause for termination for a long-service employee can be a risky and costly strategy.

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The damages formerly known as Wallace – Are they still relevant?

July 7, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

It has been about eight years since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Honda Canada v Keays, which dramatically altered the law with respect to damages relating to bad faith conduct in the course of dismissal. Is the topic still relevant? A recent Ontario decision confirms that it is.

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Wrongful dismissal update: More kinds of damages being ordered

February 14, 2017 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

Once upon a time, employees did not sign employment contracts with termination clauses and employment lawyers fought over the appropriate “reasonable” notice period. In 2017, however, employees now claim in addition to wrongful dismissal damages, human rights damages, moral or Wallace damages, punitive damages, and damages for the intentional infliction of mental stress.

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Boucher v. Wal-Mart Canada: Ontario Court of Appeal rocks the wrongful dismissal world

June 10, 2014 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

On May 22, 2014 the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) released the Boucher v. Wal-Mart Canada decision. It could rock the wrongful dismissal world.

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Special damages in wrongful dismissal cases: The Appeal and Trial Courts are like two ships passing in the night

August 19, 2013 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

Wrongful dismissal occurs when an employer does not provide an employee with adequate notice of termination. Wrongful dismissal cases result in two main types of damages:

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Moral damages: still an unsettled question

May 18, 2011 Andrew Taillon Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

A recent case out of the Quebec Superior Court Lysecky v. United Parcel Service of Canada Limited 2010 QCCS 5098 is indicative how the question of “moral damages” is still unsettled law.

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Ongoing evolution of ‘the damages formerly known as Wallace’

May 5, 2011 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

As we all know, in the late 1990’s the Supreme Court of Canada held that employers had a duty to act in good faith in the course of terminating the employment relationship. In Wallace v. United Grain Growers, our High Court found that the employer had breached that duty, and the majority held that the remedy for such a breach would be to extend the applicable notice period. Over the following decade, claims for “Wallace damages” became commonplace, to say the least. Unfortunately, many courts seemed more than willing to oblige plaintiffs, finding bad faith in all sorts of circumstances that, while not demonstrative of perfect practice in the course of dismissal, hardly seemed to indicate conduct taken in bad faith.

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Update on damages arising out of bad faith in the course of dismissal: Soost vs. Merrill Lynch Canada Inc.

September 1, 2010 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

The Court of Appeal in Alberta has just ruled that there was no basis to award “The Damages Formerly Known as Wallace” in Soost v. Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., dramatically reducing the value of the award.

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Arbitrator rules against GTAA in favour of employee

June 1, 2010 Earl Altman Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

“Employees are not like tissues to be used up and then thrown out at a whim into a bin of low-level employment or unemployment.” The arbitrator in a recent case concluded that the Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s conduct in terminating a disabled employee was a violation of its collective agreement…

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Employment law update – Learn the latest!

May 12, 2010 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Conferences, Human Resources, Payroll

This year’s Ontario Employment Law Conference co-sponsored by First Reference and Stringer Brisbin Humphrey on June 2, 2010, will touch on several topics of importance to employers. The first topic on the Agenda will provide employers with guidance on a significant court decision and changes in court procedures affecting the termination process. Specifically it should help employers minimize claims arising from the termination process.

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