Contractually set severance payments can remove dismissed worker’s duty to mitigate damages by looking for another job
As a general rule, dismissed employees have a duty to take reasonable steps to reduce or mitigate their loss by looking for another job. If an employment contract provides for a severance payment upon termination, the question is whether the employee is still obligated to mitigate her loss. Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal touched on this issue in two cases: Soye v. Corinthian Colleges Inc. and Wronko v. Western Inventory Services.
