Owner says he mistook 'conversational' probe for routine until penalties hit
A British Columbia café operator who thought an employment standards investigation “seemed nonchalant and conversational” discovered too late that informal doesn't mean inconsequential, as an Employment Standards Tribunal member upheld $1,000 in penalties against the company for failing to keep payroll records and pay termination entitlements to an employee.
In a decision dated Jan. 22, 2026, tribunal member Alysha Bennett dismissed Broughton & Broughton Inc.'s appeal of a determination that found the company contravened the Employment Standards Act in its treatment of a minor employee who worked at the Lions Bay General Store and Café from March 31, 2022, to Nov. 18, 2023. The employer sold the business on Jan. 1, 2024, believing the new owner had assumed liability for the termination.
Craig Doherty, the company's director and owner, told investigators he no longer had access to payroll software or his former bookkeeper following the business sale, and was “given the erroneous impression that the investigation was routine and minor and did not suggest that there were any significant ramifications (financial or otherwise) outside of the core grounds in the complaint.”
When investigators requested payroll records for the employee, Doherty explained he could no longer access the Square point-of-sale system or QuickBooks, and had lost contact with his bookkeeper. He...
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