Cohnstaedt v. University of Regina, (1995) 188 N.R. 159 (SCC)

• Judge: La Forest, L'Heureux-Dubé, Sopinka, McLachlin and Iacobucci, JJ.
• Court: Supreme Court (Canada)
• Case Date: October 12, 1995
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (1995), 188 N.R. 159 (SCC);[1996] 1 WWR 153;[1995] 3 SCR 451;58 ACWS (3d) 246;131 DLR (4th) 605;1995 CanLII 68 (SCC);[1995] CarswellSask 286;101 WAC 277;134 Sask R 277;188 NR 159

Cohnstaedt v. Regina Univ. (1995), 188 N.R. 159 (SCC)

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Dr. Martin L. Cohnstaedt (plaintiff/appellant) v. University of Regina (defendant/respondent)

(24146)

Indexed As: Cohnstaedt v. University of Regina

Supreme Court of Canada

La Forest, L'Heureux-Dubé, Sopinka, McLachlin and Iacobucci, JJ.

October 12, 1995.

Summary:

A tenured university professor was dis­missed. The professor sued the university for damages. The action was settled before trial. The settlement agreement provided that the professor would continue duties assigned to him by the Deans, his work was to be assessed and, if his performance was judged to be inadequate, the professor was required to take early retirement. The Deans' assess­ment proved unsatisfactory and the univer­sity sought to enforce the retirement clause as per the settlement agreement. The pro­fessor sued for a declaration that his termi­nation was invalid and claimed salary and other damages. The professor also claimed the procedure followed breached the settle­ment agreement.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, in a judgment reported 45 Sask.R. 232, found that the settlement agreement was not breached and dismissed the professor's action. The professor appealed.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, in a judgment reported 45 Sask.R. 197, allowed the appeal. The court held that the rules of procedural fairness applied. It was an implied term of the settlement agreement that the professor would be assessed accord­ing to the usual factors for evaluating the work of a full-time professor and this term was breached. The court held that the parties had agreed that the appropriate measure of damages was loss of salary and pension benefits. The court awarded damages on that basis. The university appealed.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in a judg­ment reported 93 N.R. 169; 75 Sask.R. 211, allowed the appeal in part. The court agreed that the university breached the settlement agreement respecting the assessment of his performance. Accordingly, the professor was wrongfully dismissed. The court remitted the matter of damages to the trial judge for determination.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, in a judgment reported 88 Sask.R. 94, assessed damages as if the professor had been wrongfully dismissed. The court fixed damages at one year's salary less pension benefits received. The professor appealed the damages awarded.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, Sherstobitoff, J.A., dissenting, in a judgment reported 116 Sask.R. 241; 59 W.A.C. 241, allowed the appeal in part. The court held that the proper measure of damages was the probability of a favourable assessment and reinstatement multiplied by the probability of working until normal retirement age multi­plied by the salary and pension that would have been earned until retirement. The court further reduced the award by 30% for the professor's failure to mitigate his loss. The court affirmed that no prejudgment interest was payable. The professor appealed.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, substantially agreeing with the dis­senting reasons of Sherstobitoff, J.A., in the Court of Appeal. The court substituted judg­ment for the professor in the amount of $208,872.66, as proposed by Sherstobitoff, J.A.

Damage Awards - Topic 1454

Contracts - Employment contracts - Wrongful dismissal - Tenured university professor - [See Education - Topic 4425 ].

Damages - Topic 6741

Contracts - Employment contract - Measure of damages for breach by employer - Tenured university professor - [See Education - Topic 4425 ].

Damages - Topic 6753

Contracts - Employment contract - Measure of damages for breach by employer - Mitigation by employee - Duty to mitigate - [See Education - Topic 4425 ].

Education - Topic 4425

Universities - Professors - Wrongful dismissal - Damages - An agreement between a tenured professor facing forced retirement and the university provided for an assessment of his work after one year - An unfavourable assessment would lead to early retirement - The university con­ducted an improper assessment and ter­minated the professor, breaching the agreement - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal held that damages were for breach of the agreement, not wrongful dismissal - Damages were not for loss of a full-tenured position - Damages equalled the probability of a favourable assessment and reinstatement (30%) times the probability of working until normal retirement age (80%) times the salary and pension to be earned until normal retirement age ($309,750) - The damage award of $74,340 was reduced a further 30% (to $52,000) because of the professor's failure to mitigate his loss - Sherstobitoff, J.A., dissenting, stated that damages for termi­nation of employment should be the salary and benefits that would have been earned from the termination date to the normal retirement date, less 1/3 for failure to mitigate and with no reduction for contin­gencies and without regard to whether any assessment would have been favourable or not - The Supreme Court of Canada sub­stituted judgment for the amount proposed by Sherstobitoff, J.A. ($208,872.66), sub­stantially agreeing with his reasons.

Counsel:

A.J. Beke, Q.C., and James Nugent, for the appellant;

G.J. Kuski, Q.C., and Erin M.S. Kleisinger, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard before La Forest, L'Heureux-Dubé, Sopinka, McLachlin and Iacobucci, JJ., of the Supreme Court of Canada.

On October 12, 1995, La Forest, J., delivered the following judgment orally in both official languages for the Supreme Court of Canada.