CERB Payments Cannot Be Deducted From Wrongful Dismissal Damages, Appeal Court Rules

A lower court ruling that deducted an employee's Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments from her wrongful dismissal damages has been overturned by the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

In Yates v Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., 2022 BCCA 398, Chief Justice Bauman concluded that the trial judge erred in his deductibility analysis by failing to "allude to or grapple with the 'broader policy considerations'" identified by Justice Cromwell in IBM Canada v Waterman, 2013 SCC 70 (Waterman).

In Waterman, the Supreme Court of Canada discussed the requirement that a "collateral benefit" or "compensating advantage" (i.e. a benefit flowing to a plaintiff and connected to the defendant's breach) be deducted from a damages award subject to two common exceptions: charitable gifts and private insurance, as they are not intended to indemnify the employee from the type of loss suffered as a result of the employer's breach. Justice Cromwell recognized that charitable