Honda faces stiff penalty • Injury commuting covered by WCB • When a layoff equals dismissal
Honda faces stiff penalty
Honda Canada must pay $500,000 in punitive damages — reportedly the stiffest such penalty in Canadian employment law history — to a former employee suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Defending “invisible impairments,” Justice John McIsaac of the Ontario Superior Court didn’t pull any punches in harshly criticizing the Alliston, Ont.-based automaker’s treatment of long-term employee Kevin Keays, who has CFS and was eventually terminated.
“Just because (the employee) did not carry a white cane, use a hearing aid or get around in a wheelchair, did not make him any less deserving of workplace recognition of his debilitating condition,” he said. Honda said it will appeal.
Injury commuting covered by WCB
A snow plow driver was awarded workers’ compensation benefits after his car slid off the road on his way to work in a severe snowstorm.
The Nova Scotia Court Appeal said it’s generally accepted that workers travelling to and from work are not “in the course of their employment” and are not eligible for benefits.
But since the driver was called in early and was obligated to arrive within 30 minutes, and because he was injured by the very storm he was heading into work to clean up, the court said he qualified for benefits.
When a layoff equals dismissal
Ontario’s highest court has upheld a ruling that underscores the fact employers don’t have the right to temporarily lay off a worker unless the employment contract specifically gives them that right.
The case involved a software engineer, with Ottawa-headquartered Sigpro Wireless, who asked for time off to visit his dying mother in China. He asked to be put on emergency leave, but was instead laid off. Upon his return he was told there was no work for him.
The court said the layoff repudiated a fundamental term of the employment contract — that the employee will be employed at an annual salary for an indefinite period. It said the layoff amounted to wrongful dismissal and awarded him more than $50,000.
For more employment law news, visit Canadian HR Reporter’s sister publication Canadian Employment Law Today at www.employmentlawtoday.com.
Honda Canada must pay $500,000 in punitive damages — reportedly the stiffest such penalty in Canadian employment law history — to a former employee suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Defending “invisible impairments,” Justice John McIsaac of the Ontario Superior Court didn’t pull any punches in harshly criticizing the Alliston, Ont.-based automaker’s treatment of long-term employee Kevin Keays, who has CFS and was eventually terminated.
“Just because (the employee) did not carry a white cane, use a hearing aid or get around in a wheelchair, did not make him any less deserving of workplace recognition of his debilitating condition,” he said. Honda said it will appeal.
Injury commuting covered by WCB
A snow plow driver was awarded workers’ compensation benefits after his car slid off the road on his way to work in a severe snowstorm.
The Nova Scotia Court Appeal said it’s generally accepted that workers travelling to and from work are not “in the course of their employment” and are not eligible for benefits.
But since the driver was called in early and was obligated to arrive within 30 minutes, and because he was injured by the very storm he was heading into work to clean up, the court said he qualified for benefits.
When a layoff equals dismissal
Ontario’s highest court has upheld a ruling that underscores the fact employers don’t have the right to temporarily lay off a worker unless the employment contract specifically gives them that right.
The case involved a software engineer, with Ottawa-headquartered Sigpro Wireless, who asked for time off to visit his dying mother in China. He asked to be put on emergency leave, but was instead laid off. Upon his return he was told there was no work for him.
The court said the layoff repudiated a fundamental term of the employment contract — that the employee will be employed at an annual salary for an indefinite period. It said the layoff amounted to wrongful dismissal and awarded him more than $50,000.
For more employment law news, visit Canadian HR Reporter’s sister publication Canadian Employment Law Today at www.employmentlawtoday.com.
