Ontario Court Upholds Just Cause Termination Provision

Last year, we reported on the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc. (the "Waksdale decision"), in which the Court found that although drafted properly, a termination without cause provision in an employment contract was unenforceable because the termination with cause provision in the same contract provided for termination without notice in circumstances broader than those contemplated by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the "ESA"). Following the Court of Appeal's decision, employers across the province scrambled to amend their termination provisions to ensure their enforceability as plaintiffs began to raise the "Waksdale argument" in wrongful dismissal claims.