TRIAL WIN: Carpenter v. Brains II Canada Inc.

Carpenter v. Brains II, Canada Inc.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP is proud to announce that Ontario employment lawyer and firm partner David Vaughan successfully represented his client, Ms. Carpenter, at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

What Happened

In Carpenter v. Brains II, Canada Inc. our client worked at a company for 11 years, before the business was sold to Brains II. The new company asked her to sign a new employment contract, which she did. She was terminated more than 7 years later, and provided with eight weeks’ working notice and 18 weeks’ severance pay in compliance with the Employment Standards Act (ESA).

Ms. Carpenter retained our firm for a wrongful dismissal claim. We argued that the termination clause in her contract was not enforceable, as it failed to highlight benefit continuance during the notice period. This failure does not properly comply with the ESA.

The Decision

Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot agreed that the termination clause did in fact provide our client with less than her minimum statutory entitlements. This fact rendered the employment contract invalid and unenforceable. The clause did make mention of the payment of salary in lieu of notice, but failed to include a mention of benefit continuance.

Takeaway for Employees

• Before you sign a new employment contract, always review its contents to make sure you are not giving up your rights to full severance pay upon termination.
• When you are let go from your job, always contact one of our employment lawyers in either Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary or Ottawa so that we can review your contract to determine whether or not it is enforceable. Just because there is a termination clause in the contract, does not mean that it is 100% enforceable.

Takeaway for Employers

• Have new employees sign an employment agreement with an appropriate and fair termination clause that does not ignore the employee’s rights under the ESA.
• Our employment lawyers can properly draft an employment agreement with thorough clauses that will protect the company from wrongful dismissal claims.

Read the court’s full decision here.