Workers often have the upper hand in the legal world, but employers are beginning to receive favourable results on employee misconduct cases
If you have been following my columns over time, you would know by now that Canadian courts are among the friendliest to employees.
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Just last week, I wrote about how the courts continue to strike down Canadian employment contracts, leaving employers increasingly vulnerable to increased liability when terminating employees.
Despite workers having the upper hand most of the time in the legal world, employers are beginning to receive favourable results on employee misconduct cases.
Late last year, I told you about the case of Patene Building Supplies, a company that terminated its Health, Safety and Training Manager after the court found she engaged in a pattern of attempting to hide her failure to report a workplace injury and incident to her employer.
Another recent wrongful dismissal case, brought against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, was similarly dismissed after the court found the CIBC was in the right when it terminated an employee for cause after issuing several warnings.
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The plaintiff in this case, who I will refer to as N.P., was a senior financial services representative at the CIBC. She was employed for nine years before her termination for cause, largely without incident or warnings.
In her role, N.P. assisted clients with their long-term and short-term financial needs and was required to collect and validate client information in line with the bank’s policies. She signed employment agreements confirming she would abide by the bank’s policies and procedures.
N.P. received two written warnings during her employment. The first was a formal warning given after a client overdrew funds on their bank account and N.P. failed to review an overdraft report. A formal warning was given to N.P. in December 2010 that stated, in part, “failure to improve your performance to our satisfaction will result in further disciplinary action.”
The second and final warning, issued in February 2013, related to N.P. pulling credit bureau records for clients without their signed consents. Following this warning, the bank uncovered other breaches, including that N.P. altered information on a mortgage application after it was signed by a client.
CIBC terminated N.P. for cause in July 2013.
N.P. sued CIBC for wrongful dismissal claiming it did not have cause to terminate her and arguing she had no complaints before 2012 (she started employment at CIBC in 2004). She also argued she was under stress due to moving bank branches and learning her son-in-law was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
The court found N.P. was warned verbally, and twice in writing, and that she was “well aware” of the consequences. The court found she was aware of the bank’s policies, received training on them and understood they were part of her employment agreement.
Despite this, her non-adherence persisted and the court found it was proportional for the bank to terminate her for cause.
The case is of particular interest, partly because the warnings issued by the bank to N.P. were separated by more than two years. CIBC did not have a robust disciplinary record for N.P. but relied more heavily on its built-in policies and processes that established the clear expectations the bank had for its employees.
It’s worth noting also that banks are highly regulated and misconduct on part of banking employees will attract higher scrutiny. The courts expect more from employees in regulated industries.
Employee misconduct will not give rise to cause in every circumstance. But misconduct that is tainted by dishonesty will continue to attract harsh scrutiny in the courts. While the legal climate still favours employees overwhelmingly, employers are buoyed by a small but strong line of cases that confirm serious consequences exist for deliberate, dishonest misconduct.
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CHAUDHRI: Bank on side when terminating employee for cause
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09.03.2024
Workers often have the upper hand in the legal world, but employers are beginning to receive favourable results on employee misconduct cases
If you have been following my columns over time, you would know by now that Canadian courts are among the friendliest to employees.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Don't have an account? Create Account
Just last week, I wrote about how the courts continue to strike down Canadian employment contracts, leaving employers increasingly vulnerable to increased liability when terminating employees.
Despite workers having the upper hand most of the time in the legal world, employers are beginning to receive favourable results on employee misconduct cases.
Late last year, I told you about the case of Patene Building Supplies, a company that terminated its Health, Safety and Training Manager after the court found she engaged in a pattern of attempting to hide her failure to report a workplace injury and incident to her employer.
Another recent wrongful dismissal case, brought against the Canadian Imperial Bank of........
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