Just Cause: The Capital Punishment of Employment Law

• Author: Matthew L.O. Certosimo
• Pages: 401-426



JustCause

TheCapitalPunishmentof

Employment Law

MahewLOCertosimo*

A. INTRODUCTION

Takingintoaccounttheimportanceofworkinourlivestherecanbeno

debateoverthesevereimpactofdismissalparticularlysummarydis-

missalwithcauseIndeedasSwintonJoncenotedtherearethosewho

have characterized an employeessum mary dismissal as the capital

punishmentoftheemploymentrelationship

Whenanemployeeisdismissedwithjustcausetheemploymentre-

lationshipisterminatedsummarilyAccordinglyastheOntarioCourt

ofAppealstatedinMcIntyre v. Hockin

The causes which ar e sucient to justify di smissal must vary w ith

the nature of the employment and t he circumstance s ofe ach case

Dismissalisanextrememeasureandnottoberesortedtofortriing

causes The fault must be someth ing which a reason ablema n could

* MahewLOCertosimoisapartneratBordenLadnerGervaisLLP

 KSwintonContractLawandtheEmploymentRelationshipTheProperFormfor

ReforminBJReiterandJSwanedsStudies in Contract LawTorontoBuer-

worthsatfootnote

 ForamoredetailedtreatmentofthetopicseeRandallScoEchlinMahewLO

CertosimoJust Cause: The L aw of Summary Dismissal in CanadalooseleafAurora

ONCanadaLawBook

MLOC

notbeexpectedtooverlookregardbeinghadtothenatureandthe

circumstancesoftheemployment

Whileatcommonlaweitherpartytoanemploymentcontractmaytermi-

natetheagreementatanytimesubjecttotheexpressandorimpliedterms

ofthecontracttheSupremeCourtofCanadahasrecognizedsuchasin

Wallacev United GrainGrowers Ltdthespecialrelationshipbetween

employerandemployeeandtheuniquecharacteristicsoftheemploy-

mentcontractasdierentiatedfromordinarycommercialcontractsby

virtueofthepowerimbalancebetweenemployerandemployeeIndeed

employeeshavebeenrecognizedbytheSupremeCourtofCanadaasa

vulnerablegroupinoursocietyThisvulnerabilityisasnotedbyIaco-

bucciJallthemoreacuteduringthetraumaticeventofdismissal

Soit is withi n this context that the SupremeCourt of Canada in

McKinleyvBCTelprovideditsguidanceonthedoctrineofjustcause

UnderlyingtheapproachIproposeistheprincipleofproportionalityAn

eectivebalancemustbestruckbetweentheseverityofanemployees

misconductandthesanctionimposedTheimportanceofthisbalanceis

beerunderstoodbyconsideringthesenseofidentityandselfworthin-

dividualsfrequentlyderivefromtheiremploymentaconceptthatwas

exploredinReferencerePublicServiceEmployeeRelationsActAlta

SCRwhereDicksonCJwritingindissentstatedatp

Workisoneofthemostfundamentalaspectsinapersonslife

providingtheindividualwithameansofnancialsupport

andasimportantlyacontributoryroleinsocietyApersons

employmentisanessentialcomponentofhisorhersenseof

identityselfworthandemotionalwellbeing

ThispassagewassubsequentlycitedwithapprovalbythisCourtin

Machtinger v HOJ Industries Ltd SCR  p and in

Wallace supraatparaInWallacethemajorityaddedtothisnotion

bystatingthatnotonlyisworkitselffundamentaltoanindividuals

identitybutthemannerinwhichemploymentcanbeterminatedis

equallyimportant

 OARatCA

 DLRthatSCCWallace

 Ibidat

 Ibid.adoptingSlaight Communications Inc. v. Davidso nDLRthat

SCCDicksonCJC

 Wallace ibid .at

 DLRthSCCMcKinley