‘A lot of people forget that terminations can happen because someone’s just not a good fit’: lawyer
“When you’re going to terminate someone, you have to legitimately think through the termination, because perspective is really important.”
So says employment lawyer Natasha Atyeo of Grosman Gale Fletcher Hopkins LLP in Toronto, after an Ontario employer successfully defended itself against a worker’s complaint that her firing during her probationary period was a reprisal for raising workplace safety concerns.
Active Lives Canada (ALC) is a charitable organization based in Shelburne, Ont., that provides day programs for adults with special. On Jan. 2, 2025, ALC hired the worker as a program co-ordinator, subject to a six-month probationary period.
A short time after she joined ALC, the worker reported to ALC’s executive director that two baseboard heaters at one of the organization’s two locations weren’t working properly, making it too cold for clients in the winter. She suggested bringing in her son – who was an electrical safety inspector – to look at them, but ALC had a volunteer repair the heaters.
The worker also raised the issue of fire extinguishers at a location ALC had rented, as they hadn’t been inspected for a long time and needed updating. The executive director addressed the problem quickly.
In late February, the worker complained to the executive director that the van used to transport clients was in poor condition and shouldn’t be on the...
USCellular urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to uphold a D.C. Circuit ruling that dismissed whistleblowers’ False Claims Act (FCA) claims alleging spectrum auction fraud, branding their reque...