Ontario Court Upholds Termination For Abandonment

It has always been the case that the courts will place a high burden on any employer trying to establish that an employee has abandoned or voluntarily resigned from his or her employment. Usually clear and unambiguous intent and language is a minimum requirement. In a recent case in Ontario, however, an employer was successful in establishing that a former employee had abandoned his employment and, in doing so, it provided an informative example for employers confronting situations where employees are absent for prolonged periods of time.

In the Betts v. IBM Canada Ltd., 2015 ONSC 5298, the Ontario Superior court recently upheld an employer's decision to terminate an employee's employment for abandonment of employment or voluntary resignation where the employee (1) was absent from work for over eight months; (2) failed to submit necessary documentation to support an application for short-term disability; and (3) failed to return to work despite multiple written