The Federal Court of Appeal in
Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., 2015 FCA 17
("Atomic Energy") confirmed that federally
regulated employers can dismiss non-union employees without
cause.
The
Canada Labour Code (the "Code"), which applies to
federally regulated employers, provides that non-union employees
with 12 months or more service can bring complaints alleging that
the termination of their employment was "unjust." An
adjudicator, appointed under the Code, can award a range of
remedies, if they find the termination was unjust, including
reinstatement of the employee.
Prior to Atomic Energy the "unjust dismissal"
provisions in the Code were commonly interpreted by adjudicators to
mean that non-unionized employees in the federal jurisdiction could
only be dismissed for just cause similar to the protection afforded
to unionized employees. In Atomic Energy, the Court stated
that this interpretation of the "unjust dismissal"
provisions was "unsupported by
