Employees Can Sue for Constructive Dismissal Caused by Chronic Mental Stress: ON Div Ct

Can an employee sue for constructive dismissal if the cause of the employment relationship break down is that the employee was subjected to chronic workplace harassment resulting in injuries otherwise compensable under the WSIB regime?

In a well-reasoned, no-nonsense decision, Morningstar v. WSIAT, 2021 ONSC 5576 (CanLII), the Ontario Divisional Court (Sachs, Backhouse and Kurke JJ.) overturned two earlier decisions of Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (the “WSIAT”), about which I blogged in my post Employees Cannot Sue for Constructive Dismissal Caused by Chronic Mental Stress: WSIAT, and held that one can.

No Right to Sue Employer for Sexual Assault by Co-Worker: WSIAT

Can an employee sue her employer if she is sexually assaulted at work by a co-worker? In a decision by the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (the “WSIAT”), Decision No. 3096/17, 2018 ONWSIAT 1563 (CanLII), the answer was once again, “not if the employee is entitled to WSIB benefits.”