You Make the Call
This instalment of You Make the Call involves a restaurant employee who was fired two days after she had given her notice of resignation.
Kelsi Fraser-Easton was hired by Happy Jack’s Restaurant and Bar in November 2017. In the summer of 2019, Fraser-Easton decided that she wanted to take one-month vacation. She discussed her intentions with Happy Jack’s as well as options for covering her absence. There was some uncertainty as to what was agreed, but Fraser-Easton felt confident enough to book flights for her desired vacation period.
However, the restaurant felt they hadn’t reached an agreement on arrangements yet, which led to an argument. Fraser-Easton was angry and the restaurant gave her two written warnings for her behaviour. Fraser-Easton responded by giving two weeks’ notice of her intention to resign from her employment.
Two days after Fraser-Easton provided her notice of resignation, the restaurant learned of discussions she had had with another employee. The restaurant felt the discussions were inappropriate and amounted to “unethical conduct” that constituted grounds for dismissal. As a result, it terminated Fraser-Easton’s employment for just cause on July 31, 2019, before her resignation date. Accordingly, it didn’t pay her any severance as per a just-cause dismissal.
Fraser-Easton filed a complaint with the B.C. Employment Standards Branch alleging that the restaurant dismissed her after she had given notice of resignation and couldn’t avoid its obligation to pay termination pay for events occurring after she had given notice. Happy Jack’s argued that it only became aware of Fraser-Easton’s misconduct after her notice of resignation, so it wouldn’t have been able to dismiss her for cause earlier.
You Make the Call
Was the employee entitled to severance pay?
OR
Was there no entitlement to severance pay?
IF YOU SAID Fraser-Easton was entitled to severance pay, you’re right. The director of employment standards found that the disagreement between Fraser-Easton and the restaurant was not serious enough to constitute just cause for dismissal. Without just cause, the restaurant was liable to pay compensation for length of service. Fraser-Eaton was employed with the restaurant for about 20 months, so she was entitled to two weeks’ pay or $936.37. The director also ordered Happy Jack’s to pay an administrative penalty of $500 for breaching the B.C. Employment Standards Act by not paying Fraser-Easton her termination pay within 48 hours of her dismissal.
Happy Jack’s appealed to the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal, but the tribunal agreed with the director’s decision. The director concluded that the restaurant did not meet its burden of proof for just cause, regardless of the timing of the termination. Even if Fraser-Easton had not given her notice of resignation, the restaurant did not have just cause for dismissal and Fraser-Easton was entitled to termination pay, said the tribunal in dismissing the appeal.
In addition, the tribunal noted that since Happy Jack’s breached the Employment Standards Act, it was still on the hook for the administrative penalty, making the restaurant liable for $1,436.47.
For more information, see:
- Happy Jack’s Public House Ltd. (Re), 2020 BCEST 94 (B.C. Emp. Stds. Trib.).
