Is A Disrespectful And Inflammatory Letter Enough To Terminate?

An employee, unhappy with her employer's criticism of her performance at work, retains legal counsel to write a letter on her behalf, demanding that the employer retract statements made about her and issue an apology. The letter threatens legal action if an apology is not provided. Does the letter constitute a resignation if the apology is not provided? If not, is the employer entitled to terminate the employee's employment for cause? These questions were considered in the decisions of the BC Court in Grewal v. Khalsa Credit Union, 2011 BCSC 648; affirmed 2012 BCCA 56.

The employee commenced employment as a teller at the employer credit union in 1989. By 1999, the employee had moved up through the ranks of the employer and had become the Vancouver branch manager. Shortly thereafter, the employer raised concerns about breaches of the employer's policies and procedures by the employee, noting to the employee that such breaches were not acceptable and resulted in a loss