Hampton v. Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd., (1999) 218 N.B.R.(2d) 109 (TD)

• Judge: Glennie, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (Canada)
• Case Date: July 14, 1999
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: (1999), 218 N.B.R.(2d) 109 (TD)

Hampton v. 35 Charlotte Ltd. (1999), 218 N.B.R.(2d) 109 (TD);

    218 R.N.-B.(2e) 109; 558 A.P.R. 109

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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Temp. Cite: [1999] N.B.R.(2d) TBEd. OC.034

John Hampton (plaintiff) v. Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd. (defendant)

(S/C/1030/98)

Indexed As: Hampton v. Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd.

New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench

Trial Division

Judicial District of Saint John

Glennie, J.

September 30, 1999.

Summary:

Hampton was dismissed after eight and one-half years' employment with Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd. as a janitor and building main­tenance worker. He sued for wrongful dis­missal. The issue was damages.

The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, held that Hampton was entitled to a total of 11 months' salary in lieu of notice ($18,480). The award in­cluded an additional two and one-half months' notice because of the employer's bad faith conduct in handling the dismissal.

Master and Servant - Topic 8000

Dismissal without cause - Notice of dis­missal - What constitutes reasonable notice - Hampton was dismissed after eight and one-half years' employment with Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd. as a janitor and build­ing maintenance worker - He sued for wrong­ful dismissal - The New Bruns­wick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Divi­sion, held that Hampton was entitled to a total of 11 months' notice - The award included two and one-half months' notice because of the employer's bad faith con­duct in handling the dismissal - The em­ployer tried to use a letter of recommendation as a bargaining chip in exchange for Hampton signing a confirma­tion document limiting his sever­ance pay to four weeks - The document would have then been used as, inter alia, a release - The employer also alleged dis­missal for just cause and pled specific allegations which were untrue.

Master and Servant - Topic 8003

Dismissal without cause - Notice of dis­missal - Reasonable notice - Considerations affecting - [See Master and Servant - Topic 8000 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 8064

Dismissal without cause - Damages - Mitigation - Hampton was dismissed after eight and one-half years' employment with Thirty-Five Charlotte Ltd. as a janitor and building maintenance worker - He sued for wrongful dismissal - He applied for other jobs and did some work cleaning an apart­ment - Unable to find work, he returned to school (community college) to further his education - The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, held that Hampton made every reasonable effort to mitigate his loss - The court stated that Hampton should not be penalized for his positive decision to further his education and then re-enter the work place - See paragraphs 33 to 35.

Cases Noticed:

Bardal v. Globe and Mail Ltd. (1960), 24 D.L.R.(2d) 140 (Ont. H.C.), refd to. [para. 24].

Bishop v. Carleton Co-operative Ltd. (1996), 176 N.B.R.(2d) 206; 447 A.P.R. 206 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 26, 31].

Bramble et al. v. Medis Health and Phar­maceutical Services Inc. (1999), 214 N.B.R.(2d) 111; 547 A.P.R. 111 (C.A.), appld. [para. 27].

Jagoe v. Recount Investments Ltd., [1997] N.B.R.(2d) (Supp.) No. 50 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 31].

Corbin v. Standard Life Assurance Co. et al. (1994), 156 N.B.R.(2d) 35; 401 A.P.R. 35 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 31].

Corbin v. Standard Life Assurance Co. et al. (1995), 167 N.B.R.(2d) 355; 427 A.P.R. 355 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 31].

Legere v. YMCA-YWCA of Saint John (1997), 192 N.B.R.(2d) 199; 489 A.P.R. 199 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 31].

Boldon v. Computer Innovations Distribu­tion Inc. (1993), 139 N.B.R.(2d) 236; 357 A.P.R. 236 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 31].

Wallace v. United Grain Growers Ltd., [1997] 3 S.C.R. 701; 219 N.R. 161; 123 Man.R.(2d) 1; 159 W.A.C. 1; 152 D.L.R.(4th) 1, refd to. [para. 37].

Kroll v. 949486 Ltd. (1997), 34 C.C.E.L.(2d) 78 (Ont. Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 39].

Chaddock v. Great Lakes Truck Centre Ltd. (1998), 70 O.T.C. 85; 34 C.C.E.L.(2d) 195 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 40].

Truong v. British Columbia (1997), 32 C.C.E.L. 291 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 40].

Antonacci v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Co. of Canada (1998), 53 O.T.C. 291; 35 C.C.E.L.(2d) 1 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 40].

Humphrey v. Maritime Paper Products Ltd. (1997), 189 N.B.R.(2d) 245; 482 A.P.R. 245 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 40].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Fisher, Barry B., The Wallace Factor: An Analysis of the Affect of the Bad Faith Dismissal Doctrine on Reasonable Notice Periods in Wrongful Dismissal Actions, generally [para. 39].

Harris, David, Wrongful Dismissal, §4.78 [para. 35].

Pink, Ronald A., Employment Law, Recent Developments in Employment and Labour Law (1998), generally [para. 28].

Counsel:

Kelly VanBuskirk, for the plaintiff;

Brian D. Delaney, for the defendant.

This action was heard on July 14, 1999, before Glennie, J., of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, Judicial District of Saint John, who delivered the following judgment on September 30, 1999.