Employment lawyer Alex Lucifero, CTV News, on employee conduct and termination

Interview Summary

An education assistant in B.C. has come under fire from her own school board and faces termination as her OnlyFans account was discovered by a student. Kirstin MacDonald’s situation has led to questions regarding an employer’s ability to penalize employees for their conduct outside of the workplace. If terminated as a result of behaviour, will the employee still be owed severance?

Alex Lucifero, an Ontario employment lawyer and Managing Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joins CTV News Ottawa to answer these questions and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• Penalized for conduct outside of work: In most situations, behaviour outside of the workplace, unless it affects the business of the owner directly, cannot lead to termination. In some workplaces, employees can be considered an extension or reflection of their employer’s brand. An employer generally cannot terminate an employee “for cause” due to off-duty conduct, barring serious misconduct.
• Rights of union vs. non-unionized employees: There are advantages and disadvantages to being a unionized employee. It is generally more difficult to terminate a unionized employee. Upon termination, however, a non-unionized employee will be owed comparatively more severance pay. Unionized employees will be owed minimum severance entitlements.