Judge Rules that Severance Offers Should Not be Pleaded

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If I reject a severance offer, will the judge think I am being too greedy in asking for more? That question is a common concern among employees who find themselves suddenly unemployed. Conversely, employers are often hesitant to offer enhanced severance packages, lest the employee sue for wrongful dismissal and claim the offer as evidence of the employer’s willingness to at least pay such amount.

In a decision released July 19, 2017, Ramos v Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co., 2017 ONSC 4413, the Honourable Madam Justice Robyn M. Ryan Bell may have done a great deal to mitigate such concerns for both sides.

Employer Ordered to Provide Particulars of Reasons for Termination Without Cause

Is a provincially regulated employer required to provide the reason that it terminated an employee’s employment if that employer does not allege that it had “just cause” to terminate the employment?

Conventional wisdom would be that the employer would not have to provide a reason. It is settled law that employers in Ontario may terminate the employment of any of its employees without cause subject only to two restraints: (1) the employer must provide the employee with reasonable notice of the termination; and (2) the reason for termination cannot be prohibited by law.

It was the second criterion, the reason for termination cannot be prohibited by law, that brought the issue of whether an employer had to provide its reason for the termination of employment into focus. According to a decision of Master Donald E. Short, Mezin v. HMQ, 2016 ONSC 5171, if an employee alleges that his employment was terminated in contravention of the provisions of the Human Rights Code, then the employer must provide particulars of its denial of such allegations.