This two-part article summarizes some important employment law decisions in Alberta in 2025. It does not focus on cases from other provinces, although many of those can influence legal decisions here. It also does not address developments in human rights and labour (union) law.
Part 1 of this two-part article covers severance pay and reasonable notice, employment standards, professional regulation and just cause for termination. Part 2 covers employment contracts, duty to mitigate damages for wrongful dismissal and whether summary judgment is right for a constructive dismissal and just cause case.
In Kirke v Spartan Controls Ltd, 2025 ABCA 40, a company bought back shares from an employee after terminating his employment. The Court of Appeal considered whether the employee was entitled to compensation for payments that would have flowed to him as a holder of the shares if they had not been bought back. Kirke was initially successful at trial, receiving an award of 20 months’ severance and the disputed shares payments. The Court of Appeal interpreted the contract and found the employer had an unrestricted right to buy back the shares after termination. This led the Court of Appeal to conclude there was no reason to assume Kirke would have...
As we await more details about CBP’s latest murder in Minneapolis, I wanted to point to an attempt by DOJ to get a writ of mandamus because Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko denied five of eight arres...