Employer terminated worker instead of investigating harassment complaint; employer’s conduct aggravated worker’s depression
An Ontario employer must pay more than $45,000 to a short-term former employee with depression who suffered harassment at work and was terminated after complaining about it.
Wendy Horner was hired by Superior Coatings, a paint store in Thunder Bay, Ont., in 2016. At the time of her employment, Horner was being treated for depression. The treatment included a prescription for a low-dose antidepressant she received in July 2016. Horner told her supervisor but no one else at the store.
Shortly after Horner was began working at the store, a male co-worker began acting rude to her and, according to Horner, “routinely belittled” her. The harassing behaviour took place often when they were alone, but also in front of other people.
On one occasion in December 2016, the co-worker elbowed Horner on purpose when she tried to move behind him in a hallway. Horner confronted the co-worker about it and he denied doing it intentionally. He then told her to “take a pill,” which caused Horner to believe the supervisor had told others she was taking medication for depression. She reported the incident to her supervisor.
Two days after the incident, Horner needed to get into a drawer that the co-worker was standing in front of. She asked the co-worker several times to move out of the way, but the co-worker angrily said to her “can you not wait?” Horner explained she needed in the drawer, but didn’t like the way the co-worker was looking at her. Upset, Horner went to her supervisor and said she should go home. The supervisor responded by saluting her and saying “goodbye.”
Horner felt she wasn’t being taken seriously, so she spoke with the owner of Superior Coatings on Dec. 22, 2016. She said she needed some time away from work because of what was going on in the workplace and business was slow at that time of year anyway. She suggested a temporary layoff, but the owner said he couldn’t do that. The owner suggested Horner take the next day off — which was the store’s last day open for the year — and said they would “figure this out in the new year.”
Before Horner left the store, the owner asked her if he laid her off and the co-worker with whom she was having difficulties wasn’t there, would she come back? Horner responded in the affirmative and the owner acknowledged it.
However, six days later, on Dec. 28, Horner found a termination letter dated Dec. 22 and signed by the owner stuck in the back door of her house. The termination letter stated that she had been terminated with cause because of her conduct. The letter said Horner, while trying to access the drawer, had lost her temper and “angrily ranted” against the co-worker while the co-worker was serving a customer. The letter claimed Horner had been reprimanded for similar unprofessional conduct in the past and this was the final straw.
Since Superior Coatings characterized the termination as for-cause, no notice or pay in lieu was provided.
Horner said she was “devastated” over being terminated, since the owner had told her they would figure it out in the new year. It triggered her depression and she sank into a “good deep hole” that she couldn’t get out of.
Following the termination, Horner saw her doctor in January 2017. The doctor diagnosed her with acute depression and prescribed a higher dosage of medication. However, the medication had side effects such as nausea and fatigue. She suffered from acute anxiety, isolated herself from friends and family, and lost 30 pounds. She was unable to work but her claim for employment insurance was denied because she had been terminated for cause, though she received 15 weeks of employment insurance sick benefits.
Horner sued Superior Coatings for wrongful dismissal, discrimination in employment based on gender and disability, intentional infliction of mental suffering and emotional distress, aggravated damages for the manner of dismissal, and punitive damages for the “callous and high-handed conduct” of Superior Coatings that included false allegations of misconduct and just cause for dismissal.
The court found there was no evidence that Horner’s depression was a factor in her termination. She only told her supervisor about it, and her co-worker’s “take a pill” comment wasn’t proof he or anyone else was aware of it. Horner also acknowledged that she didn’t know whether she told the store’s owner about her depression, so it was unlikely her condition was a factor in her termination. As a result, the court found no discrimination in employment coming out of Horner’s termination.
However, the court saw differently when it came to how Horner was treated. Despite what the termination letter said, Horner had not been warned of any misconduct and had no idea her job was in jeopardy. There was no evidence of misconduct that amounted to just cause, so as a result Superior Coatings was ordered to pay Horner three months’ pay in lieu of notice — $10,000.
The court also found Horner was harassed in the workplace and the employer, rather than investigating, terminated her employment. This conduct on the store’s part was “malicious, oppressive and high-handed and must be deterred,” said the court. As a result, the court determined $10,000 in punitive damages were appropriate as deterrence for similar conduct by an employer in the future.
In addition, the court found the owner’s conduct in terminating Horner after telling her they would figure things out in the new year by putting a letter in her back door was “cowardly” and aggravated Horner’s pre-existing depression. This warranted another $20,000 in aggravated damages, said the court.
The court denied Horner’s claim for damages for intention infliction of mental suffering and emotional distress stemming out of the harassment by the co-worker, as it felt that while it was inappropriate for the workplace, it didn’t rise to the level of intentional infliction of mental suffering. Horner’s depression came out of the manner of her termination and not the harassment, the court said.
Including costs, Superior Coatings was ordered to pay Horner a total of $45,500 for wrongful dismissal, the harassment she experienced at work, and the way she was treated in her dismissal. See Horner v. 897469 Ontario Inc., 2018 CarswellOnt 372 (Ont. S.C.J.).
