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ARTICLE · 07 JUNE 2018

Kickbacks: Recovering Ill-Gotten Gains

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Key employees are crucial to the success of any organization. They are the top performers and the faces of the company - entrusted with authority and autonomy to execute their duties.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Theodore Fong
Theodore Fong
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Introduction

Key employees are crucial to the success of any organization. They are the top performers and the faces of the company - entrusted with authority and autonomy to execute their duties. Inherent in any such relationship is trust.

M-I Drilling Fluids Canada, Inc v Cottle, 2018 ABQB 143 concerns a key employee who broke this trust, profiteering for several years from kickbacks while the employer paid inflated prices for supplies. When the fraud was discovered, the employee was fired. However termination alone may be cold comfort to an employer who has suffered losses from fraud. Is there anything else that can be done?

Facts

The Defendant, Mr. C was an employee of the Plaintiff M-I Drilling Fluids Canada, Inc. ("MID"). Mr. C worked his way up to become a high-level manager, operating with significant discretion and minimal supervision.

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