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Ontario employees see wrongful dismissal damage awards above two years

Sunira Chaudhri

Sunira Chaudhri

Toronto Employment Lawyer

Lynch worked a professional engineer at Avaya Canada Corporation when he was terminated after 38.5 years of service. He was approaching his 64th birthday when he was let go.

Loyalty to a single employer is rare these days.

 

Long-term employees are almost mythical-type characters; symbolic of a foregone era.

 

And when long-term employees like John Lynch get terminated, after more than 38 years of dedicated service, courts do not miss the chance to make extraordinary awards.

 

Lynch worked a professional engineer at Avaya Canada Corporation when he was terminated after 38.5 years of service. He was approaching his 64th birthday when he was let go.

 

Lynch sued for wrongful dismissal damages, and at a summary judgment motion, was awarded 30 months of pay, well beyond the notional “cap” of 24 months of wrongful dismissal damages.

 

Avaya appealed the decision to Ontario’s Court of Appeal, asserting the 30-month award to Lynch was too high and the lower court failed to apply the appropriate legal test in assessing Lynch’s entitlements.

 

The appeal was entirely dismissed.

 

The Court of Appeal confirmed it was able to discern the exceptional circumstances that factored into an award in excess of 24 months to Lynch. These factors included that Mr. Lynch’s job was unique and specialized, and that his skills were tailored to a very specific workplace experience at Avaya.

 

The court also noted that his length of employment was 38.5 years, that he developed 1-2 patents each year for Avaya, that he was identified as a “key performer” in a recent performance review, and that similar comparable employment would be scarce in Bellville where he lived throughout his employment.

 

Lynch was awarded his costs of the appeal, in the amount of $20,000.

 

Courts may use their inherent discretion to find exceptional circumstances to justify higher awards to employees on termination.

 

This leaves employers exposed, especially those that lowball long-term employees on termination in tight labour markets.

 

Lynch was closely associated with Avaya’s corporate culture for virtually his entire working life. He didn’t work in a bustling metropolis but instead built his career in Belleville.

 

Lynch’s case will be the gift that keeps on giving for long-term employees. It has opened the door to higher wrongful dismissal awards.

 

As the courts look beyond 24-month damage awards, employers must regroup and refresh their approaches on termination.

 

Have a workplace issue? Maybe I can help! Email me at sunira@worklylaw.com and your question may be featured in a future column.

 

The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.

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