PM41261516
Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canadian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
A patchwork of family status
accommodation requirements. PG. 4
A look at the tests for accommodation in
British Columbia and Ontario
Restaurant server dismissed
after off-duty argument
B.C. worker's misconduct wasn't intentional or deceitful,
nor serious enough to deserve dismissal
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A BRITISH COLUMBIA restaurant server who got
into a drunken argument with another employee
while off-duty and mistakenly forgot to pay her bill
should not have been fired for the misconduct, ac-
cording to the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Jocelyn Toledo was hired in August 2015 to be a
part-time server at Coast Restaurant in Vancouver.
She was subject to an employee handbook for Coast
Restaurant employees that described two categories
of misconduct. Category 1 consisted of "minor of
-
fences" such as disorderly or inappropriate conduct
on the premises and were subject to progressive disci-
pline. Category 2 offences would result in suspension
or termination and included intentional loss of the
employer's property or theft.
On May 16, 2017, Toledo wasn't working but went
to the restaurant with a friend to have drinks there.
They were joined by a regular customer who knew To
-
ledo and were served by two bartenders.
After a while, Toledo started talking loudly about
Termination and bad faith: Proper
dealing in the manner of termination
Employers should be aware of the difference between bad feelings
from termination and bad-faith termination
BY MELANIE SAMUELS AND GLEN STRATTON
IN ITS 2008 decision in Honda Canada Inc. v.
Keays, which built on its earlier decision in Wallace
v. United Grain Growers Ltd., the Supreme Court
of Canada offered some guiding principles for
assessing and identifying whether an employer
has discharged its duty of good faith upon
termination of an employee. An employer fails
to discharge its duty of good faith where, during
the course of dismissal, the employer fails to be
open, reasonable, truthful and forthright with
the employee. An employer fails to discharge its
duty where it acts in an unfair manner by being
misleading or unduly insensitive.
Since then, case law has assisted with refining
the above principles. Some important takeaways
March 11, 2020
Sexual harasser's reinstatement quashed by
Alberta Court of Appeal PG.3
Arbitrator found misconduct wasn't serious
enough to warrant dismissal, but appeal court said
it should have been considered sexual assault
UNFAIRNESS on page 6 »
CREDIT:
SARINYAPINNGAM
iSTOCK
INTOXICATED on page 7 »
with Stuart Rudner
Ask an Expert PG. 2
Changing a benefits package
