Termination For Employee Misconduct Outside The Workplace

In his November 2014 Communique " Let's Take This Outside: Can Employers Discipline Employees for Off-Duty Conduct?", Cole Lefebvre canvassed a number of cases in which the courts had to assess terminations employee misconduct outside the workplace. This topic has been hotly debated across Canada after recent controversy in Ontario.

The story of one Ontario man has been reported widely on mainstream and social media in recent weeks. The man was involved in gendered vulgarities hurled at a female news reporter outside the stadium after attending a professional soccer match. His employer, an Ontario utility company, terminated him the day after the story broke.

Shortly after the termination, the National Post conducted an interview with the company's  CEO. It provides interesting insight into the company's decision-making process in assessing how to deal with the employee. And while this story hasn't reached its conclusion yet (it is unclear if the former employee