Court of Appeal for British Columbia decides Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments issued to those who stopped working due to the pandemic should not be deducted from wrongful dismissal damages awards. This is the first Canadian appellate court to address whether an employee’s entitlement to damages in lieu of reasonable notice should be reduced by the amount of CERB they received.

In Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., 2022 BCCA 398, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (BCCA) decided that Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments should not be deducted from damage awards for wrongful dismissal. Yates is the first appellate court decision to consider this issue. The BCCA also upheld the lower court’s refusal to award the employee punitive damages for the employer’s alleged misconduct in the dismissal process.

Background

The employee in this case was temporarily laid off from her employment as a marketing manager and event coordinator when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Her layoff was extended until its expiry on August 30, 2022. Under British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act (ESA), because the employer allowed the August 30 date to pass without recalling the employee or advising her that her layoff would become permanent, her termination date was deemed to be retroactive to the start of the layoff period at the end of March 2020.

Between the end of March 2020 and August 30, 2020, the employee received $10,000 in CERB...

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