Whistler Four Seasons’ case shows how progressive discipline and timing can make or break an employer's position
Employers often believe they have grounds to terminate an employee for just cause, only to discover in a tribunal hearing that their case falls short.
This point was illustrated perfectly in a recent B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) decision that saw a prominent Whistler hotel ordered to pay a former massage therapist $5,000 – the maximum award for a civil claims case – for failing to prove it had just cause to terminate him without notice.
David Brown, partner at Ascent Employment Law in Kelowna, explains the disconnect between employer confidence and legal reality, and how employers often fall short of the high bar for establishing just cause: “Just cause terminations are usually high conflict, and they come down to the facts.”
In the decision, Kiiveri v. Four Seasons Whistler Hotel Limited Partnership (2025 BCCRT 1613), the CRT examined whether Four Seasons had just cause to terminate the employee, employed since September 2022, without notice on March 19, 2024.
In 2022 the employee had been given written warnings for not following clock-in and -out procedure, and for eating in the cafeteria while off shift.
It also referred to an incident where the employee was at an off-site bar with co-workers, some of whom had complained about what they viewed as inappropriate behaviour while he was inebriated.
The tribunal also...
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