Employer owes nearly $350,000 after wrongful dismissal
Jan 16, 2025
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“When you have a senior employee who goes on disability leave, have a strategy for how you're going to deal with and manage that disability leave - what are you going to do operationally to fill that position and what are you going to do to get them back to work.”
So says labour and employment lawyer Kit McGuinness of McKercher LLP in Saskatoon, after a Saskatchewan court found that an employer claiming that a worker resigned actually terminated him without cause while he was off work and owes him nearly $350,000.
The 48-year-old worker was a heavy-duty mechanic for Korpan Tractor and Parts, a heavy equipment sales and rental company in Saskatoon. Korpan hired him in 1996 and he moved up the ranks, achieving the position of service manager of the company’s repair shop. He supervised about 15 people and was responsible for hiring new mechanics and invoicing repair projects.
After the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the status of the company’s rental fleet was a concern. The pandemic forced the worker to lay off half of his workforce, which took a toll on him as he regarded many as friends.
The worker’s father passed away early in the pandemic, which added to his mental burden. On one occasion, the worker broke down in his office and the owners told him to take the rest of the week off. The worker went on short-term disability for seven weeks.
The owners called an unscheduled...
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