When his salary became dividends he claimed he'd been pushed out, but the clock had other plans
A shareholder who spent years working at an Ontario engineering company argued the business forced him out by switching his pay from a salary to dividends. A judge disagreed, ruling he stopped being an employee years earlier and sued too late.
Justice A. Doyle of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released the decision on June 11, 2026, in a dispute between Kirk Guttin and Brian W. Creber, the shareholders behind B-Con Engineering Inc. and BCE Realty Ltd. Guttin had sought $167,455.67 in constructive dismissal damages tied to dividends his holding company received in 2018 and 2019.
Guttin's work at B-Con included running machinery to fabricate optics, managing staff, and handling IT and maintenance. He studied mechanical engineering but did not finish, holds no professional designations, and is not an engineer. From 2007 to 2016, he and Creber drew salaries tied to a federal research and development tax credit. After 2016 the credit lapsed and the salaries stopped.
What followed was a return to an older arrangement: shareholder loans through the year, offset by dividends at year end. In 2018 and 2019, on the accountant's advice, those dividends came from BCE Realty rather than a financially strapped B-Con. Guttin's holding company received $80,000 in 2018 and $88,000 in 2019. He said he did not agree to that method of payment.
Guttin argued the end of...
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