What is an employer to do when it discovers that one of their
employees has been arrested? In many cases, the employer's
knee-jerk reaction will be to dismiss the employee, particularly
where the charges relate to more unsavoury conduct. However, the
law is clear that like most off-duty conduct, being charged with a
criminal offence will not, in and of itself, be just cause for
dismissal.
Merritt v. Tigercat Industries
This issue recently arose in the case of Merritt v. Tigercat
Industries, decided by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In that case, Mr. Merritt was a 67-year-old labourer
that had been employed by Tigercat since 1998. The evidence
revealed that over the course of his employment, there were four
disciplinary events, though there was some dispute with respect to
whether Mr. Merritt received notice of the discipline in each
case.
