Walsh v. Alberta and Southern Gas Co. and Alberta Natural Gas Co., (1991) 121 A.R. 341 (QB)

• Judge: McBain, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Case Date: November 28, 1991
• Citations: (1991), 121 A.R. 341 (QB)

Walsh v. Alta. (1991), 121 A.R. 341 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

George R. Walsh (plaintiff) v. Alberta and Southern Gas Co. Ltd. and Alberta Natural Gas Company Ltd. (defendants)

(Action No. 8901-15577)

Indexed As: Walsh v. Alberta and Southern Gas Co. and Alberta Natural Gas Co.

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Calgary

McBain, J.

November 28, 1991.

Summary:

An employee brought an action for dam­ages against his employer for wrongful dismissal. The employer claimed that the employee received reasonable notice or, alternatively, reasonable compensation in lieu of notice.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action and assessed damages accordingly.

Damages - Topic 6745

Contracts - Employment contracts - Damages for breach by employer - Loss of pension benefits - A 49 year old employee was wrongfully dismissed after 8.5 years' employment - He received the commuted value of his pension benefits ($15,480.71), which he transferred into a locked-in R.R.S.P. - The employee would not qualify for early retirement before his period of reasonable notice expired - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench stated that the employee was entitled to damages equal to the differ­ence between the value of the pension on the date of termination and the value on the date the period of reasonable notice expired - The court stated that any ap­propriate indexing for cost of living increases was to be included in calculat­ing the lost pension benefits - See para­graphs 104 to 121.

Damages - Topic 6746

Contracts - Employment contracts - Damages for breach by employer - Loss of share options - An employer's stock option plan entitled employees to pur­chase shares below market price, financed by a five year interest free loan - Loans were to be repaid following termination - A wrongfully dismissed employee was entitled to 15 months' notice - Before that period expired, the employer sold suffi­cient of the employ­ee's shares to repay his loans - The employee lost dividends and the right to exercise any options during the notice period - The shares should not have been sold until the notice period expired - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the employee suffered no loss and was not entitled to damages - The sale of his shares was advantageous to him because of subsequent falling share prices and the court was not sat­isfied the employee would have exercised his 1990 options - See paragraphs 67 to 103.

Damages - Topic 6750

Contracts - Employment contract - Dam­ages for breach by employer - Loss of bonus or profit sharing - An employee was wrongfully dismissed in September 1989 - The employer had a Performance Sharing Incentive Program which paid employees a bonus each year on the basis of performance - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench deter­mined that the employee should have been given 15 months' notice of termina­tion, which would end his employment in December 1990 - The court stated that the bonus was part of the compensation package for work per­formed, not a gra­tuitous payment - The employee was entitled to his 1989 bonus, but not a pro rata amount for 1990, because he was ineligible where he did not work the full 1990 year - See paragraphs 42 to 65.

Damages - Topic 6752

Contracts - Employment contract - Dam­ages for breach by employer - Loss of reputation or publicity - [See Master and Servant - Topic 7708 ].

Master and Servant - Topic 7708

Dismissal of employees - Damages for wrongful dismissal - Loss of reputa­tion - A 49 year old wrongfully dis­missed vice president of two oil and gas companies claimed damages for loss of reputation - The employee was suddenly terminated at the same time as a United States investi­gation in the oil and gas industry - There was no connection, but the media implied that the vice president was dismissed because of his involve­ment - The employer was not respon­sible for what appeared in the media - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench rejected the vice presi­dent's damage claim, because the employer did nothing to damage the vice president's reputa­tion - See paragraphs 22 to 41.

Master and Servant - Topic 8000

Dismissal without cause - Notice of dis­missal - Reasonable notice - What con­sti­tutes - The 49 year old vice president of two related oil and gas companies was summarily dismissed on September 6, 1989 after 8.5 years' employment - He was given one week's pay in lieu of notice - He earned $9,167/month when dismissed - It was a highly specialized and technical position and it was difficult to obtain similar employment - He was terminated to make room for an outside person to be trained to eventually be the senior vice president - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench fixed the period of reasonable notice at 15 months - See paragraphs 2 to 21.

Cases Noticed:

Bagby v. Gustavson International Drilling Co. Ltd. et al. (1980), 24 A.R. 181 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 6].

Athwal v. Edmonton (City) (1986), 72 A.R. 316; 47 Alta. L.R.(2d) 174 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 12].

Webster v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (1990), 31 C.C.E.L. 224 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 16].

Bohemier v. Storwall International Inc. (1982), 142 D.L.R.(3d) 8, refd to. [para. 18].

Carey v. Drexall Co. Ltd., [1974] 4 W.W.R. 492 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 56].

Brock v. Matthews Scrap Ltd. (1991), 43 O.A.C. 369 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 57].

Dauphinee v. Bank of Montreal (1985), 10 C.C.E.L. 36 (B.C.S.C.), dist. [para. 82].

Hardie v. Trans-Canada Resources Ltd. (1976), 2 A.R. 289; 71 D.L.R.(3d) 668 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 86].

Gillespie v. Bulkley Valley Forest Indus­tries Ltd., [1973] 6 W.W.R. 551 (B.C.S.C.), affd. [1975] 1 W.W.R. 607 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 90].

Durrant v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (1990), 49 B.C.L.R.(2d) 263 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 111].

Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd. (1960), 24 D.L.R.(2d) 140 (Ont. H.C.), refd to. [para. 113].

Ansari v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, [1986] 4 W.W.R. 123; 2 B.C.L.R.(2d) 33, refd to. [para. 115].

Rivers v. Gulf Canada Ltd. (1986), 13 C.C.E.L. 131 (Ont. H.C.), refd to. [para. 115].

Phillips v. Foothills Provincial General Hospital (1989), 95 A.R. 268 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 140].

Statutes Noticed:

Judgment Interest Act, S.A. 1984, c. J-0.5, generally [para. 147].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Canadian Institute of Chartered Account­ants Handbook, vol. 1, generally [para. 127].

Counsel:

W.T. Corbett, Q.C., for the plaintiff;

Marlene Stones and S.M. Shawa, for the defendants.

This action was heard before McBain, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Calgary, who delivered the following judgment on November 28, 1991.