Employment lawyer discusses Hockey Canada board member resignations

Interview Summary

External pressure and further reproach from sponsors have resulted in many executives at Hockey Canada stepping down from their positions. The resignations have led to questions regarding the potential consequences and entitlements for employees in senior positions who have not exhibited good conduct. Are employees owed severance pay if pressured to leave their positions?

Fiona Martyn, a Toronto employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joined Scott Thompson on 900 CHML to answer this question and more on employee entitlements.

Interview Notes

• Typical to offer severance after resignations: Typically if an employee voluntarily resigns from a company, they are not owed any severance upon resignation. However, in this situation, it is likely the Hockey Canada board members were pressured to resign, which would be considered constructive dismissal and severance pay should be offered.
• Delays in announcing resignations due to negotiating severance: It is very likely that the board members spoke up about potential pay-outs and the terms of their severance package. The length of service, salary, age, etc, will determine the severance calculations.
• The public nature of the situation affects severance: Ultimately, the strategy of Hockey Canada will determine the amount of severance offered, and as an organization, they might have offered a much larger incentivized package to the recently resigned members. Legally, it does not matter if the employees resigning are in a high-profile or public position.
• Lack of sponsors leads to pressure to terminate: The financial liability or financial situation of an employer should not factor into the amount of severance offered to terminated employees unless bankruptcy has been declared.
• Chance for future employment of board members: In the event, an employee has resigned, the possibility of future employment should not factor into a severance package as it was not a termination for cause. In reality, the public nature of these resignations and the preceding events would have played a part indirectly in calculating severance.