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ARTICLE · 07 JULY 2015

Alberta Case Provides Precedent For Summary Dismissal Of Long Serving Supervisor

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Taken individually, none of the things that a long-serving manager did justified dismissal with cause.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith
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Taken individually, none of the things that a long-serving manager did justified dismissal with cause. However, when the employee's conduct was considered collectively and combined with the employee's lack of credibility at trial, an Alberta court denied the employee's wrongful dismissal claim for more than $1 million.

The Alberta case ("EPCOR")1 provides a precedent for employers to justify the summary dismissal of a 60 year-old employee with 32 years of service, even when the employee had no record of discipline, and the employer had condoned some of the employee's similar misconduct in the past prior to dismissal.

Facts

Prior to the dismissal, the employee (the "Employee") enjoyed positive performance reviews. In June 2009, the employer assigned the Employee to a position as the Senior Consultant of a large Internet-based project. However, that same month, management received an email ("Informal Complaint") from two employees who expressed concerns with the

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