New Client Policy Results in Frustration of Employment

If you are an employer in the service industry, and your largest client introduces a new rule or policy that imposes new requirements on your employees, and if one of your employees refuses to comply with that new rule or policy, has the employee’s contract of employment been “frustrated” or must the employer allege that it has “cause” for termination?

In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd, 2024 ONCA 354 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld a decision in which it was found that an employee’s refusal to comply with his employer’s client’s rule requiring proof of vaccination against Covid-19 was a frustration of contract.

This is case about Covid-19 vaccination, which is not about Covid-19.

How Much Time Do You Have to Sue for Unpaid Overtime?

The question of how much time one has within which to start a civil claim for unpaid wages, including unpaid overtime is actually more complicated than it sounds.

In Fresco v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 2022 ONCA 115 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario refused to allow an employer’s appeal in a proposed class action case on the basis that the applicable limitation period had expired.

The basis for the court’s decision was the application of the “reliance on superior knowledge and expertise” doctrine to the question of when an employee ought to reasonably have known that, having regard to the nature of the injury, loss or damage, a proceeding would be an appropriate means to seek to remedy it.

Allow me to explain.

Aggravated Damages Awarded for Heightened Frustration and Anxiety After Employer Fails to Investigate Workplace Harassment Allegations

Does the failure to respond to a request for a workplace harassment investigation warrant an award of aggravated damages, where the employee is later terminated for complaining about such harassment?

In Bassanese v. German Canadian News Company Limited et al., 2019 ONSC 1343 (CanLII), the Honourable Justice Lorne Sossin of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that it does.