Let´s Not Hold A Funeral For Wallace Damages Just Yet

On June 29, 2009, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its most recent pronouncement dealing with the issue of "Wallace damages".

In 1997, Justice Iacobucci of the Supreme Court of Canada wrote the majority decision in Wallace v United Growers Ltd., pursuant to which employers became subject to an obligation of good faith and fair dealing in the manner of employment dismissals. The court in Wallace held that damages resulting from the manner of dismissal would be available where the employer engages in conduct during the course of dismissal that is unfair, or is in bad faith by being, for example, untruthful, misleading or unduly insensitive. The court in Wallace held further that such damages would be awarded by adding to the length of the reasonable notice period. As a result, in cases over the last decade where employers have breached the obligation of good faith and fair dealing in the manner of dismissal, there has been a lengthening of the reasonable notice