Wrongful dismissal is an employment law phrase used when the employer dismisses the employee immediately. The employer is telling the employee there are grounds to allow the employer to fire the employee immediately.

Immediate termination of employment is justified if, and only if, there has been a total insult of the employment contract or relationship as a result of the severe behaviour of the employee. The employer is claiming that the behaviour is so severe that immediate termination, without notice, and without any severance or payment package, is justified.

Examples of such egregious behaviour at work include: 

 

• theft of money or property belonging to the employer;

• theft of intellectual property, such as trade secrets, proprietary research, or confidential lists of customers, from the employer; 

• attempts to sell stolen intellectual property from an employer to a competitor, or another third party; 

• other criminal conduct of the employee, such as assaulting another employee, a customer, or supplier.

The employer may have this belief, but that is not sufficient. The employer’s belief, if put to the test by a court proceeding, may be proven false. Until allegations are proven in court, they are just allegations.

Damages for Wrongful Dismissal

If the employer takes the position that the employee deserves to be fired immediately, but a court should later rule otherwise, then the employee is entitled to an award of damages.

These damages may include ongoing, regular pay for the time that the employer would have had to pay or given notice to the employee, if the employer had decided to end the contract without any cause.

The Employment Standards Act sets out only the minimum, but often a fair and balanced award for notice can be many months, and in some cases more than a year. Although sometimes it works out to be in the range of one month per year of employment, this is not an absolute rule, as other factors may come in to play to make it a longer or shorter period.

 

There can also be punitive (or punishment damages). awarded to the employee because of the manner and behaviour of the employer towards the employee. The termination process could be embarrassing, insulting, or could allege such things as theft or dishonesty. If theft or dishonesty cannot be proven, then punitive damages, and sometimes damages for loss of reputation, can be awarded to the employee.

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Planning Your Wrongful Dismissal Case

 

Assembling a wrongful dismissal case or a wrongrul termination case of requires planning. Mississauga employment lawyers from DeRusha Law Firm can assist you in this process.

Even if the employment has not yet resulted in a termination, but is in a situation where it is called constructive dismissal. From an Ontario employment law perspective, constructive dismissal is when the employer restricts your job duties, or changes your job duties without your consent or agreement, to the point that you feel you have no choice but to resign. 

The wrongful termination case could also be the result of the employer using retaliation against you, the employee.

 

Every case starts with the first wrongful or inappropriate action. An isolated event may not be sufficient. What is needed is a full review of all evidence, and an assembling of evidence and assembling of the case.

 

The objective is to demonstrate that the actions of the employer should allow for payment of severance, which is payment of the ordinary salary that would be given through the calculation of the appropriate notice periods.

 

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Employment Contracts and Wrongful Dismissal

It is essential to look at the background of the employment situation. The first place that Mississauga employment lawyers look is at employee contracts. The employment contract is to be reviewed carefully, from a legal point of view as seen through the eyes of a Mississauga Employment Lawyer.

 

The employee has to have details of each event that forms part of his or her employment history with thata employer. These are the key employment details:

 

1. Location

2. Date

3. Time

4. Precisely what was stated or occurred

5. Who was present

6. Preserving items or evidence (the actual item or photographs)

 

Next, the details of the wrongful dismissal, should be carefully recorded. A Mississauga employment lawyer, from DeRusha Law Firm, can assist you in assembling your case.

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To assess and evaluate as to whether the immediate dismissal was a wrongful dismissal, an employee should seek experienced and professional legal advice. The Mississauga employment lawyers at DeRusha Law Firm can provide a no charge consultation, and move further into an evaluation of opinion, options, and legal advice.

Often, there is an agreement reached when Mississauga employment lawyers engage in negotiation, or sometimes through the process of mediation, without the necessity of going to court.

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