Former employee threatened to damage employer's reputation, claiming unpaid wages
A former employee who threatened to damage his employer's reputation with clients and government agencies unless paid outstanding wages has lost his appeal in Ontario.
The Court of Appeal upheld a defamation ruling that rejected the individual’s claims of public interest whistleblowing.
Justice Edward Morgan's decision, affirmed by the appellate court, found that Zhuo Chen's communications to Diverse Transportation's major clients and the Ministry of Transportation were fundamentally about his employment dispute rather than legitimate workplace safety concerns.
Chen left his position at Diverse Transportation and subsequently made claims for unpaid wages and other amounts he alleged the company owed him. His approach to collecting these wages, however, went beyond typical employment dispute channels.
Chen threatened to send “damaging” communications to Diverse Transportation's clients and others if payment was not made. He said that if payment were made, he would not send the threatened communications. Payment was not made at that time.
Chen then followed through on his threats, sending damaging communications to Diverse Transportation's most important clients and the Ministry of Transportation, claiming that the company had engaged in harmful and unsafe practices and was a bad employer.
In all of these communications, Chen referenced his employment dispute...
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