Stevenson v. First Nations University of Canada Inc., 2015 SKQB 122

• Judge: Barrington-Foote, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: April 27, 2015
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2015 SKQB 122;(2015), 473 Sask.R. 236 (QB)

Stevenson v. First Nations Univ. (2015), 473 Sask.R. 236 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] Sask.R. TBEd. MY.020

Wesley Stevenson (plaintiff/respondent) v. First Nations University of Canada Inc. (defendant/applicant)

(2006 Q.B.G. No. 1481; 2015 SKQB 122)

Indexed As: Stevenson v. First Nations University of Canada Inc.

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Regina

Barrington-Foote, J.

April 27, 2015.

Summary:

Stevenson was terminated from his employment as Vice-President of Administration at First Nations University of Canada Inc. (FNU). He commenced an action for wrongful dismissal. FNU applied for summary judgment dismissing the claim.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench granted the application.

Master and Servant - Topic 1010

Contract of hiring (employment contract) - General - Interpretation - Stevenson was Vice-President of Administration at First Nations University of Canada Inc. (FNU) - Section 6 of his employment agreement stated that FNU could terminate his employment for cause "provided that 'cause' shall mean a wilful criminal act against the College ... " - FNU terminated Stevenson's employment after discovering that he had breached FNU's travel policy by taking trips that were either unauthorized or not for FNU business purposes - In one case, Stevenson requested external funding to cover a project deficit which only existed because he had used FNU funds for his personal benefit - This led to Stevenson pleading guilty to fraud against the federal government - In a wrongful dismissal action, Stevenson argued that "criminal acts against the College" extended only to those crimes where FNU was the complainant or victim of the crime and only if there was a conviction - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench rejected this argument - Section 6 had to be interpreted in light of the employment agreement as a whole, which called for consideration of the nature of Stevenson's responsibilities, the nature and fundamental interests of FNU, and the purpose of a clause that permitted termination for cause - Stevenson's proposed interpretation did not reflect these considerations - At a minimum, s. 6 extended to a criminal act which had not resulted in a conviction, but had been proved on a balance of probabilities - See paragraphs 29 to 32.

Master and Servant - Topic 1010

Contract of hiring (employment contract) - General - Interpretation - Stevenson was Vice-President of Administration at First Nations University of Canada Inc. (FNU) - Section 6 of his employment agreement stated that FNU could terminate his employment for cause "provided that 'cause' shall mean ... gross negligence of duty" - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that "gross negligence of duty" should be interpreted to mean that Stevenson could only be dismissed for cause if he was guilty of conduct which represented a marked departure from the standards of performance and conduct he was required to meet as a result of his employment - Relevant considerations included not only the extent to which he failed to comply with the duty at issue, but the potential impact of that failure, which in turn affected the standard of performance or conduct that applied to the actions at issue - The fact that Stevenson was a senior employee in a position of leadership and trust had to inform this analysis - Not every act of gross negligence would, taken alone, necessarily constitute cause within the meaning of s. 6 - The nature and extent of the breach, and the number of breaches, were relevant considerations - See paragraphs 33 to 41.

Master and Servant - Topic 1226.1

Contract of hiring (employment contract) - Termination - For misconduct - [See both Master and Servant - Topic 1010 and first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7505

Dismissal of employees - General principles - Procedure - Stevenson was Vice-President of Administration at First Nations University of Canada Inc. (FNU) - In 2005, the Vice-Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), acting in his capacity as chair of FNU's board of governors, entered and took control of FNU's executive offices - Stevenson was suspended pending the completion of an external investigation by the FSIN - An audit revealed that Stevenson had breached FNU's travel policy by taking trips that were either unauthorized or not for FNU business purposes - FNU terminated Stevenson's employment - FNU applied for summary judgment dismissing Stevenson's wrongful dismissal action - Stevenson raised questions as to the motivation for and fairness of the process which led to his termination, noting that he was not given the opportunity to respond to the audit report before his termination, and that the report expressly stated that it was preliminary - He submitted that the audit was prepared during a political takeover, which raised questions as to its accuracy - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that Stevenson's allegations, if true, were not relevant to the application - If an employer had cause, it was entitled to terminate an employee without notice - This was so regardless of whether those involved in the termination were motivated by politics or personal ill will - The court had not relied on the audit report for the truth of its contents, except to the extent that it was confirmed by Stevenson's admissions in the agreed statement of facts and in his questioning - See paragraphs 42 to 45.

Master and Servant - Topic 7550

Dismissal or discipline of employees - Grounds - Cause or just cause defined - Stevenson was Vice-President of Administration at First Nations University of Canada Inc. (FNU) - Section 6 of his employment agreement stated that FNU could terminate his employment for cause "provided that 'cause' shall mean ... gross negligence of duty" - FNU terminated Stevenson's employment after discovering that he had breached FNU's travel policy by taking trips that were either unauthorized or not for FNU business purposes - In one case, Stevenson requested external funding to cover a project deficit which only existed because he had used FNU funds for his personal benefit - This led to Stevenson pleading guilty to fraud against the federal government - Stevenson sued FNU for wrongful dismissal - FNU applied for summary judgment dismissing the action - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench granted the application - It was beyond question that Stevenson repeatedly breached his duties as Vice-President - His fraud conviction, taken alone, constituted a single act of "gross negligence of duty" sufficient to justify his termination - He also repeatedly breached a policy designed to prevent unauthorized or unnecessary travel, which was a particularly sensitive issue for public institutions - He filed false and misleading documents in order to obtain and cover up the receipt of travel benefits for himself and others who were not entitled to those benefits - There was no genuine issue requiring a trial - See paragraphs 46 to 63.

Master and Servant - Topic 7550

Dismissal or discipline of employees - Grounds - Cause or just cause defined - [See both Master and Servant - Topic 1010 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7552

Dismissal or discipline of employees - Grounds - Neglect or failure to discharge duties - [See second Master and Servant - Topic 1010 and first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7553

Dismissal or discipline of employees - Grounds - Misconduct or misconduct of business - [See first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7562

Dismissal of employees - Grounds - False expense or overtime claims - [See first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7568

Dismissal of employees - Grounds - Criminal conduct - [See first Master and Servant - Topic 1010 and first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 8795

Dismissal - Practice - Evidence - General - [See Master and Servant - Topic 7505 ].

Practice - Topic 5702

Judgments and orders - Summary judgments - Jurisdiction or when available or when appropriate - [See first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Practice - Topic 5719

Judgments and orders - Summary judgments - To dismiss action - [See first Master and Servant - Topic 7550 ].

Words and Phrases

Gross negligence - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench considered the meaning of this phrase in the context of an employment contract - See paragraphs 33 to 37.

Cases Noticed:

Tchozewski v. Lamontagne (2014), 440 Sask.R. 34; 2014 SKQB 71, refd to. [parra. 26].

Hyrniak v. Mauldin, [2014] 1 S.C.R. 87; 453 N.R. 51; 314 O.A.C. 1; 2014 SCC 7, refd to. [para. 26].

Bruno Appliance and Furniture Inc. v. Hryniak, [2014] 1 S.C.R. 126; 453 N.R. 101; 314 O.A.C. 49; 2014 SCC 8, refd to. [para. 26].

Magna Electric Corp. v. Tesco Electric Ltd. (2015), 469 Sask.R. 15; 2015 SKQB 35, refd to. [para. 27].

Jo-Mar Fashions Inc. v. Giang et al., [2014] 11 W.W.R. 801; 453 Sask.R. 159; 2014 SKQB 251, refd to. [para. 27].

Creston Moly Corp. v. Sattva Capital Corp., [2014] 2 S.C.R. 633; 461 N.R. 335; 358 B.C.A.C. 1; 614 W.A.C. 1; 2014 SCC 53, refd to. [para. 30].

McCulloch v. Murray, [1942] S.C.R. 141, refd to. [para. 34].

Walker v. Coates Estate, [1968] S.C.R. 599, refd to. [para. 35].

Société Telus Communications et al. v. Peracomo Inc. et al., [2014] 1 S.C.R. 621; 457 N.R. 75; 2014 SCC 29, refd to. [para. 35].

Doern v. Phillips Estate, [1995] 4 W.W.R. 1 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 35].

Kingston (City) v. Drennan (1897), 27 S.C.R. 46, refd to. [para. 36].

Metz v. Regina (City) (2006), 280 Sask.R. 296; 2006 SKQB 85, refd to. [para. 36].

Cherniwchan v. Two Hills No. 21 (County) (1982), 38 A.R. 125 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 40].

Lake Ontario Portland Cement Co. v. Groner, [1961] S.C.R. 553, refd to. [para. 41].

Counsel:

Wesley Stevenson, representing himself;

Philip Gallet, for the defendant/applicant.

This application was heard before Barrington-Foote, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Regina, who delivered the following judgment on April 27, 2015.