Faithful readers of the DMC LLP blog will note that we updated the dental community about what NOT to do during a termination (which was all of the nasty things that you see an employer do in the movies but don’t expect for them to happen in real life). The long story short was that the employer was forced to pay the employee over $1.15M.
Well the Employer appealed that decision and the appeal was just released. The employer lost on all points of their case.
The original trial lasted 11 days and the trial judge found that the the Employer did not have Just Cause to terminate the Employee ()and actually terminated the Employee in bad faith), and thus the Employee was wrongfully terminated. The Employer also lost its nearly-two-million-dollar counter-claim, and the judge said that it was merely a tactic to intimidate employee.
In winning the trial, the Employee received 19-months of pay and bonus and benefits ($466,932), plus punitive damages in the amount of $100,000, plus moral damages in the amount of $25,000, plus legal costs in the amount of $546,685.
The Ontario Court of Appeal just this week upheld the entire trial decision (including the extra damages and the legal costs) and found that the trial judge made the right decision; and then the Court tacked on an additional $35K for the costs of the appeal.
So in total, for this one employer, managing one employee, they are now forced to pay the following:
- $466,932
- $100,000
- $25,000
- $546,685
- $35,000
- TOTAL: $1,173,617.00
Yes, that is $1.17 million. Canadian dollars.
But the biggest lesson learned here is: this could have been avoided had the Employer sought good, reasonable legal advice when managing this one employee. Instead, it now is writing a 7-figure cheque to one employee.
DMC Employment lawyers can help avoid these types of situations so you do not turn out like this employer!
