A Termination Under Statute Is A Termination For All Purposes

In Elsegood v. Cambridge Spring Service (2001) Ltd., the Ontario Court of Appeal examined whether termination due to length of lay-off under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) also qualifies as termination at common law. Once his layoff met the definition of termination under the ESA, Mr. Elsegood successfully filed a claim for common law damages for his termination. The Court of Appeal agreed that termination under the ESA was termination for all purposes, and Mr. Elsegood was entitled to common law damages.

Mr. Elsegood, was a spring technician for Cambridge Spring Service with seven years service. He was 48 years old at the time of termination. On April 4, 2009, due to the economic downturn, he was laid off, with the company continuing to pay their portion of his benefits. Mr. Elsegood was recalled on June 9, 2009, but laid off a second time on July 28, 2009, and remained on layoff from that date forward. On January 22, 2010, the cumulative period of layoff