Diagnosable Psychological Injury Not Required for Award of Aggravated Damages: ONCA

Can a ‘little white lie’ about the reason for an employee’s termination of employment result in an award of aggravated damages? What if the employee is unable to demonstrate a diagnosable psychological injury?

In Krmpotic v. Thunder Bay Electronics Limited, 2024 ONCA 332, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that mental distress is a broad concept; it includes a diagnosable psychological condition arising from the manner of dismissal but is not limited to that. In the Court of Appeal’s assessment, “There is a spectrum along which a person can suffer mental distress as a result of the manner of dismissal.”

It just got considerably easier for employees to obtain aggravated damages from the manner of dismissal.

Workplace Accommodation is a Two-Way Street... on which Employees can get Run Over

Employees who become injured either at work or as a result of their workplace are especially vulnerable to losing their employment. This fact is recognized in Ontario law by the express inclusion of “injuries or disabilities for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997" in the definition of “disability” set out in the Ontario Human Rights Code. (Section 5 of that law provides that, “Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to employment without discrimination because of… disability.”)

Notwithstanding this ostensible legal protection, injured workers continue to suffer workplace discrimination, often losing their employment as a result.

The case of Nason v Thunder Bay Orthopaedic Inc., 2015 ONSC 8097 (CanLII) provides a paradigmatic example of what can go wrong after an employee gets injured.

In this post, I will look at a single issue considered by the court in this case: Must a disabled employee who wants to return to work communicate the physical ability, not just the desire, to return to work?