Determining what conduct amounts to
just cause for dismissal is no easy task. In part this is due
to just cause being inherently situation specific. When describing
what may constitute just cause, employment lawyers often refer to
extreme examples: think of situations where a public-facing
employee makes repeated racial slurs to a customer or commits major
fraud in the course of their duties. Typically, such facts will
prove fertile ground for successful assertions of just cause for
dismissal by an employer.
Even so, context is always key. As the following examples
demonstrate, situations that on the surface may appear to support
(or not support) an allegation of just cause for dismissal can
often yield surprising results.
