Mitigation | MacLeod Law Firm

Reducing Litigation Risk

Doug MacLeod — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:00:26 +0000

In a recent case, Pohl v. Hudson’s Bay Company, 2022 ONSC 5230 (CanLII),an employer was ordered to pay a long service employee the equivalent of about 3 years pay and contribute about $ 35 000 to his legal fees. Although this was a without cause termination case, it was anything but a simple case. It addressed some of the litigation risk inherent in wrongful dismissal litigation.

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Do I Have to Accept a Job Offer from the Purchaser of my Employer’s Business?

Hina Ghaus — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 12:50:29 +0000

Ontario courts have mentioned time and time again that a terminated employee has a duty look for and accept comparable employment. What happens when your employer is sold and the purchaser offers you employment? A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice provides some direction on when such an offer of employment can be rejected. Dussault v. Imperial Oil Limited…

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Returning to School and Terminated Employees’ Duty to Mitigate

Hina Ghaus — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:33:46 +0000

How Does Returning to School Affect a Terminated Employee’s Duty to Mitigate? A terminated employee has a duty to mitigate his or her damages by looking for alternative employment. We are often asked questions like: Can an employee start her own business? Can he or she return to school or a retraining program? This blog addresses these questions. The General Principle Around Returning to…

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Duty to Mitigate: What Happens to Earnings from a Lower Paying Job?

Hina Ghaus — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 14:41:45 +0000

Losing your job is one of life’s awfully stressful events. Yet, Canadian courts have long recognized the duty of a dismissed employee to seek new employment to mitigate their losses. The duty to mitigate requires wrongfully dismissed employees to take reasonable steps to minimize the losses they have suffered. Although not usually a burdensome standard to meet, a dismissed employee should be…

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Can I go back to school to retrain after being terminated?

Nadia Halum — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 12:37:51 +0000

As we have written before, once a person’s employment is terminated, that person has a legal obligation to look for alternative employment. We often receive calls from recently-terminated long service employees who ask us whether they can go back to school to retrain so that they can compete with younger members of the workforce. A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice shows…

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What a great country: getting paid by two employers at the same time

Nicole Simes — Thu, 25 May 2017 18:30:03 +0000

Wrongful dismissal damages are normally subject to mitigation, which means that income from a new job after termination is deducted from the damages a terminated employee can recover from their previous employer. For example, if an employee earning $ 60 000 is entitled to six months notice of termination (or $ 30 000 pay in lieu of notice) and earns $ 20 000 during this time then wrongful…

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Do I Have to Accept a Demotion if My Job is Eliminated?

Jason Wong — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:59:45 +0000

When an employee is terminated, the employee is required to minimize lost income by seeking alternative employment. What happens if your former employer offers to give you another job but at a reduced salary? Are you required to accept this demotion? This situation was recently considered by the Ontario Court of Appeal The Case: Due to a restructuring, the employer terminated an employee who had…

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After termination, is an employee required to mitigate by accepting an offer to return to work?

Nadia Halum — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 23:50:55 +0000

Once an employee’s employment is terminated, the person is required to mitigate by seeking alternative employment. What happens if your former employer offers to give you your job back? Are you required to accept this offer as part of your duty to mitigate? If so, and you don’t accept the offer then you should know that a court can conclude that you are not entitled to any further wrongful…

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Duty to Mitigate: What happens when your wrongful dismissal case gets to court and you are still unemployed?

Nadia Halum — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 22:58:02 +0000

The Basics A wrongful dismissal occurs when an employer does not provide enough notice of termination. An employee can claim damages equal to the remuneration the employee would have earned during the applicable notice period. During the notice period, an employee is subject to the “duty to mitigate”, which means she must look for alternative employment. Notice periods can be as long as 24 months…

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How to Save Money: Help a Terminated Employee Find a New Job

Doug MacLeod — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 02:42:55 +0000

Did you know that it is usually in an employer’s financial interest to help a recently terminated employee find alternative employment? Here’s why: the faster a terminated employee secures alternative employment the lower the wrongful dismissal damages he or she can prove. Helping A Recently Terminated Employee Find A New Job Can Save you Money Here’s an example to illustrate the point: Assume a…

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