Wrongful Quitting: Can Your Employee Suddenly Walk Out The Door?

Employers are familiar with the concept that employees must be given notice that their employment will be terminated. However, a recent decision from the British Columbia Court of Appeal looks at the issue from a different perspective: what notice must employees give when leaving their employers?

In Consbec Inc. v Walker, 2016 BCCA 114, a family-owned company pursued a former employee (and family member) for various losses suffered by the company when the employee left the family business without notice.

The Trial Decision

Mr. Walker was an employee of Consbec for five years prior to his resignation. His role with Consbec involved soliciting blasting and drilling contracts and he was the only employee running Consbec's Western Division office. When Mr. Walker suddenly resigned without notice, Consbec had to temporarily assign one of its employees from Sudbury to Kamloops until Consbec was able to permanently relocate another one of its employees from Sudbury.