The Ontario Superior Court has released a decision,
Chopra v. Easy Plastic Containers Limited
(Chopra), in which a cumulative series of acts of
misconduct by an employee were found justify his termination for
cause. The decision provides a useful precedent for employers
seeking to rely on repeated incidents of misconduct or poor
performance to establish just cause for an employee's
dismissal.
Background
Chopra involved a shift supervisor who, over the course
of roughly two years, was disciplined on a number of occasions for
a variety of incidents including poor performance, serious
misconduct, insubordination, incompetence, breach of company rules
and conduct that was prejudicial to the employer's business.
The employee's specific acts included, among other things,
knowingly allowing unauthorized persons to enter restricted areas,
allowing employees under his supervision to leave the premises
without punching their time cards, falling asleep on the job,
