a)  Wrongful Dismissal

We represent hundreds of executives and employees in wrongful termination situations. We are highly successful in securing solutions that properly compensate executives and employees for their employment coming to an end and provide them with a soft landing, so that they can explain openly to prospective employers the reasons behind their departure from employment.

Some things to be aware of:

• An executive or employee, upon termination without cause, has essentially two sets of rights; one relates to statutory minimum entitlements provided under the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) or Canada Labour Code (“the Labour Code”), the other relates to an employee’s common law rights.  Employers will sometimes take advantage of an employee’s lack of knowledge about their rights and offer an employee their statutory minimums (for termination and/or severance pay) and seek to secure an employee’s signature on a full and final release, which will usually bar any further litigation. Statutory entitlements must be paid without deduction and cannot be used to compensate or induce an employee to sign a release which will act as a bar to any future action against the employer for other more valuable claims, such as common law claims.
• Common law entitlements are worth significantly more, in financial terms, than statutory minimums.  The primary factors used by the courts to determine an employee’s common law notice entitlements are (although not always or exclusively) an employee’s age, position, length of service and availability to find employment opportunities.
• If you sign a release, usually but not always, you will be barred from making any other (and usually more valuable) claims against your employer. The employer always wants an employee to sign a release to protect it from any further litigation with the employee. Often a release covers any and all types of claims whether arising under statute, contractual, common law, tortuous or otherwise.  No release should be signed without receiving legal advice, given the effect that such documents have on the enforcement of valid claims in the future. Furthermore, great care should be taken not to agree to an overly broad release, a release that seeks to resolve both known and unknown future claims would be overly broad.  Only known claims should be the subject of any release.
• The ESA specifically creates an enforceable “bar” to any civil action if an employee first makes a claim pursuant to the ESA for termination and severance pay.  However, many employees don’t realize that they can, under Ontario law, enforce their ESA entitlements in addition to common law rights in the courts. The proper forum and timing of any legal action is of critical importance to ensure that an employee is not prevented from advancing valuable legal claims.  Legal advice should be sought at the earliest possible opportunity to protect all of your rights. (for example, see section 99 of the ESA ).

Evans Law Firm can guide you through your numerous statutory entitlements and civil causes of action to best protect your employment interests.

If you are in this situation – contact Evans Law Firm to have an assessment of your rights.

b)  Constructive Dismissal

We have represented countless executives and employees in constructive dismissal situations. This occurs when an employer has fundamentally and unilaterally altered the conditions of employment and effectively but not openly terminated an employee’s employment. Not every change to an employee’s terms and conditions of employment results in a constructive dismissal.

These types of cases, more so than most, must be assessed and scrutinized before asserting that a constructive dismissal has occurred. Each case turns on its own unique fact situation so it is often difficult to provide global or non-specific legal advice. Some examples of where Ontario courts have found constructive dismissal to have occurred involve instances where an employer reduces an employee’s overall compensation package, takes away significant responsibilities, lowers one’s position, rank or stature, or alters reporting obligations or number of direct or indirect reports.

Evans Law Firm can assist in reviewing any concerns you may have about an actual or anticipated constructive dismissal.

Contact Evans Law Firm to have an assessment done of your specific situation.