Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Misrepresentation on resume and breach of contract not enough for just cause Salesman misrepresented some of his experience and breached clause in contract but deserved notice of termination after not making any sales By JEffrEy r. SmiTh A BRiTiSh COLUMBiA employer did not have just cause to dismiss an employee without notice, even though the employee lied on his resume and had no results while working for the employer, the B.C. Provin- cial Court has ruled. In August 2013, David Lura, 61, respond- ed to an advertisement posted by Jazz For- est Products, a softwood professional sup- plier in Abbotsford, B.C., for a lumber sales representative. Lura provided a resume that stated he had worked for 26 years for an- other lumber company that gave him "in- depth knowledge of the product, …exten- sive experience in sales and marketing and customer service and satisfaction." He also claimed to have good computer skills. Lura told Jazz he ran his own company, Wood Source Forest Products, which was successful for a period of time but he "wound the business down recently after the person fi nancially backing me passed away." e resume listed his employment experience as at the other lumber company from 1974 to 2002 and with his own com- pany from "February 2002 to present." In the two years prior to applying for the job at Jazz, Lura had actually worked as a heavy haul truck operator in Fort McMurray, Alta., and as a security guard in Abbotsford. e president of Jazz testifi ed that Lura gave him the impression he was still op- erating his own forest products company at the time he applied to Jazz. For this rea- son, it was believed Jazz couldn't call Lura's November 26, 2014 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com city of Winnipeg falls short on accommodation pg. 3 City offered worker modifi ed duties with Brian Kenny Worker entitled to compensation for PTSD from attack, not any subsequent stress: Tribunal AN ONTARiO worker's stress-related psy- chological condition is not related to a work- place assault and therefore is not eligible for workers' compensation, a tribunal has ruled. e worker started working for the To- ronto Transit Commission (TTC) as a tem- porary subway janitor on July 5, 1995. Four days later, he was attacked by three people in the subway station where he was assigned. One of the people slashed his shirt with a box cutter and told him he was going to "stick" him. e worker thought he was going to die, but the attackers suddenly fl ed. e janitor called 911 and went to his supervisor's offi ce, where he said he didn't want the job anymore and wanted to go home. e worker was off ered some time off , but he refused and said he could work at night as long as he didn't work alone. e TTC transferred the worker to a larger station that required two janitors. However, the worker testifi ed he became housebound and he couldn't go anywhere alone. He spoke with a counsellor a few times but didn't see his doc- tor. e worker testifi ed he kept the incident buried inside him. While working at the new station, two more incidents took place that rattled the worker. On one occasion, the worker was closing up the station when he heard glass breaking, apparently from someone kicking in a glass door. e worker locked himself in the janitor room and called security. A few days later, an individual on the other side of the glass at the station put his hands on the window and threatened to kill the worker. e worker called security and it was discovered the person who threatened him had psychiatric problems. e worker's temporary employment cRedit: nAn728/ShutteRStock addicted worker's breach of last chance agreement not the end pg. 4 Keeping worker employed in safety sensitive position would be undue hardship, but there were other possibilities for worker after multiple relapses dishonesTy on page 6 » LaTer sTress on page 7 » ask an exPerT pg. 2 Employee changing retirement date

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