Equity‑based compensation has become a core component of remuneration packages for many employees — particularly in technology, life sciences, and other growth industries. Yet Canadian employment law has struggled to draw clear boundaries around how these incentives should be treated on termination, especially where employment ends before equity awards vest.
The Ontario Court of Appeal is now poised to weigh in on these issues in Wigdor v. Facebook Canada Ltd., a wrongful dismissal appeal that raises fundamental questions about whether restricted stock units (“RSUs”) must be continued during a statutory notice period, whether RSUs should be treated as “wages” under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) and the enforceability of equity plans which seek to limit post-termination vesting.
On April 23, 2026, McCarthy Tétrault LLP represented the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (“CACE”), which was granted leave to intervene in the appeal.
The appeal arises from a wrongful dismissal application. The Applicant employee, following termination of his employment without cause, sought damages that included the value of RSUs that would have vested during the reasonable notice period awarded by the application judge. The application judge determined that the Applicant employee was entitled to common law notice, but was not entitled to RSUs which would have vested during the notice period. Rather, the Application judge determined that the RSU plans at issue did not...
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...