PM40065782
Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canad ad a ian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
No ambiguity when contract provides
more than statutory minimum
Dismissed worker argued termination provision wasn't clear on exact
severance entitlement, but it gave worker more than legal minimum
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A BRITISH COLUMBIA company's termi-
nation provision wasn't ambiguous because
it stated statutory minimums were the fl oor
for severance payments and provided for
a greater entitlement than the minimums
anyway, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Glenn Johnson, 60, was a software sales
manager for IBM Canada based in Burnaby,
B.C. He was hired in 2007 with duties man-
aging three salespeople who sold, arranged
fi nancing for, and serviced IBM products.
He was also responsible for customer satis-
faction, territory management, and control-
ling business objectives.
Johnson's employment with IBM was gov-
erned by a written employment agreement
that included a termination provision that
stated if he was terminated without cause,
"IBM will provide you with a separation al-
lowance in lieu of notice equal to the greater
of IBM's current separation practice (i.e. one
week's notice/salary for every fully complet-
ed six months of service up to 52 weeks' sal-
ary) or three months of your annual salary."
e clause went on to state that it included
Homeless shelter w orker bent
out of shape over fi nger bending
Co-worker's statement was only evidence employee infl icted pain
on shelter resident, but there was no reason not to believe it: Arbitrator
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ONTARIO homeless shelter worker's
fi ring was not due to an unfortunate twist of
fate, but rather a twist of a fi nger. A co-worker's
account of the worker using unnecessary
force — the aforementioned fi nger twist
— on an unruly resident was suffi cient to
provide just cause for dismissal, regardless of
whether a visible injury on the resident's hand
was caused by the event or a later incident, an
Ontario arbitrator has found.
Faizal Azimullah was employed as a client
services worker at Seaton House, a home-
less shelter in downtown Toronto. Azimul-
lah's work was in the Annex Harm Reduc-
tion Program, a 110-bed unit within Seaton
House for chronically homeless who are also
mostly alcoholics. e program provided a
measured amount of alcohol for its residents
rather than completely denying them as a
May 29, 2019
Accommodation of medical
cannabis not guaranteed pg. 3
Inability to measure impairment
from medical cannabis
can constitute undue hardship
No discrimination against worker
with disability who quit pg. 4
Employer implemented
accommodation but worker
became impatient and quit
ACT on page 6 »
CREDIT:
MONKEY
BUSINESS
IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK
Ask the Expert pg. 2
Legal action after denial
of workers' compensation claim
with Stuart Rudner
SEVERANCE on page 7 »