Don Cherry and Wrongful Dismissal Over Comments About Immigrants

Don Cherry Fired

Hockey commentator Don Cherry has been fired from his position as host of Coach’s Corner after he made comments last Saturday night about immigrants to Canada, broadcaster Sportsnet has confirmed Monday.

On the Saturday program, Cherry argued that new immigrants in Mississauga were not wearing poppies around Remembrance Day, and therefore were not appropriately honouring Canada’s veterans.

“You people. You love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that,” Cherry said during a conversation with co-host Ron McLean. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”

Bart Yabsley, President of Sportsnet, said Monday afternoon that “following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down.”

Coach’s Corner has been hosted by Cherry since 1982.

His comments on Saturday generated enough complaints that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council told the public it will no longer be accepting complaints about Don Cherry online through its website.

Don Cherry Fired: Termination For Cause and Wrongful Dismissal

Would Cherry’s recent comments about immigrants be grounds for a dismissal “for cause”?

“As a public figure, Don represents his employer and its values. His conduct reflects on Sportsnet and the damage to them, of keeping him on, might be significant,” said employment lawyer Lior Samfiru.

“Usually, if an employee isn’t up to the job of keeping the company’s good will, values and reputation, that is cause to let them go. However, because Sportsnet has allowed him to get away with controversial statements in the past, they may be deemed to have condoned his behaviour. This fact would help him establish that there was no cause to let him go, meaning that there would still be severance entitlements owed to him.”

Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru joined the Morning Show on Global News Radio 640 Toronto to explain why Cherry may have a case of wrongful dismissal. Listen below.

If Sportsnet fired Cherry without providing him the proper amount of severance pay as recognized under common law, he might be within his right to file a claim against his for employer for wrongful dismissal. A wrongful dismissal occurs when an employer fails to give an employee enough notice or pay in lieu of notice (severance pay) when they are terminated from their job.

Dismissal “For Cause”

In most cases when an employer fires an employee, it is done without cause. In other words, the employee has not engaged in extremely poor or illegal conduct that has warranted a termination. In a termination without cause, the employer can let the employee go for almost any reason as long as proper severance is paid, based on factors that include length of service, age and position.

If the employee engages in inexcusable conduct, such as theft, stealing company information, or serious misconduct, the employer may have very good reason to terminate their employment for cause. The employee in that case would not be owed any severance pay or termination pay.

A common mistake for employers is to let an employee go “for cause” without the proper reason to do so. Our employment lawyers in Toronto, Ottawa employment lawyers and Vancouver employment lawyers are often approached by individuals who have been fired over a simple mistake, a performance issue, or even for being late to work once or twice. These reasons do not add up to a termination for cause.

Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru also joined the Lynda Steele Show on Global News Radio 980 CKNW to explain why Cherry may have a case of wrongful dismissal – Listen here.