Resources: Employment

Advancing Unfounded Just Cause Defence Leads To Large Damages Award

The B.C. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bailey v. Service Corporation (Canada) ULC,  2018 BCSC 235 highlights the perils of advancing unfounded just cause allegations and a court’s willingness to sanction such conduct with substantial aggravated and punitive damages awards.

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Father’s Family Status Denied by BC Court of Appeal

With its 2004 Campbell River decision, the BC Court of Appeal articulated the BC test for family status discrimination involving family obligations in the context of employment.  It essentially held that employers cannot impose workplace rules that seriously interfere with the substantial family obligations of its employees, unless doing so would cause the employer undue hardship.

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Summary of Proposed Changes to the B.C. Employment Standards Act

B.C.’s Employment Standards Act is the law that sets minimum standards for workplaces in the province.  On April 29, 2019, Labour Minister Harry Bains announced plans to amend the Employment Standards Act. Highlights of the proposed changes are below:

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The Benefits Of Proactive Responses To Complaints Of Workplace Discrimination: Lessons From The Alberta Human Rights Commission

A recent decision out of Alberta[1] details the value of proactive employer responses to claims of workplace discrimination as a defence to human rights complaints.

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Deconstructing Constructive Dismissal:  An Analysis of Rampre v. Okanagan Halfway House Society, 2018 BCSC 992

A recent B.C. Supreme Court decision provides a helpful refresher on the legal principles underpinning constructive dismissal.

The plaintiff, Ingo Rampre, worked for the defendant, the Okanagan Halfway House Society, for almost 23 years.  In 2016, he alleged that he was constructively dismissed.

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Broad Termination Clause and a Failure to Apply Prerequisites Results in a Bonus for Terminated Employee

A recent BC Supreme Court decision, Thoma v. Schaefer Elevator Components Inc., 2019 BCSC 100, reviewed the impact of a written employment agreement and the employer’s past practice of applying it.  The employment agreement allowed the Employer to terminate the employee without cause upon providing six months’ notice, which expressly included “his contractually agreed remuneration during the six month notice period.”

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B.C. Court of Appeal Unequivocally Affirms Test For Family Status Discrimination

In my opinion, [the concept of family status] cannot be an open-ended concept … for that would have the potential to cause disruption and great mischief in the workplace ….

Whether particular conduct does or does not amount to prima facie discrimination on the basis of family status will depend on the circumstances of each case ….  I think that in the vast majority of situations in which there is a conflict between a work requirement and a family obligation, it would be difficult to make out a prima facie case.

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BC Court of Appeal Confirms High Standard for Mental Distress Damages

An employee who believes they have been wrongfully dismissed from their employment can seek damages in court for both the fact of their dismissal and the manner in which they were dismissed.  In Cottrill v. Utopia Day Spas and Salons Ltd., 2018 BCCA 383, the Court of Appeal affirmed that there remains a high threshold in British Columbia for plaintiffs seeking mental distress damages.

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British Columbia Law Institute Publishes Report on the Employment Standards Act: Changes to BC Employment Standards Anticipated in 2019

On December 10, 2018, the British Columbia Law Institute published its 300 page report on reforming the BC Employment Standards Act .

We expect the report’s recommendations will likely provide the framework for legislative change in 2019. Here, we summarize some of the more notable points.

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“It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White”*… It’s Illegal to Discriminate

In 1991, Michael Jackson’s hit single, “Black or White”, topped the Billboard Hot 100 just three weeks after its release.  Perhaps it was the universally positive anti-racism message, as much as the music itself that propelled its popularity.  Regardless, one would have thought that by 2018 it would have been well understood that the fact that an employee was white/Caucasian does not create a defence for an employer’s racist conduct.  Sadly, Spruce Hill Resort and Kin Wa Chan must not have been Michael Jackson fans.

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