Employers should always put the feelings and dignity of the employee being terminated first, writes Ed Canning.

Employers should be careful how they deal with employees they are terminating throughout the process. It is a traumatic time for anyone, whether they deserve it or not. Some case law indicates that if an employer is untruthful, misleading or unduly insensitive in the course of the dismissal, it may lead to damages separate and apart from any pay in lieu of notice or wage loss. Also, if the employer frivolously attacks the employee’s reputation with declarations made at the time of dismissal, these aggravated damages may follow.

Alison thought she had a case for aggravated damages. She had been with the company for three years in a sales manager role when she gave a PowerPoint presentation to her two bosses. She was unhappy with her job and wanted the company to create a new position for her as director of operations. In the PowerPoint presentation, she mentioned her conflicts with another manager. The PowerPoint presentation included statements like “It’s time to move on” and “I need to move away from the role of sales manager as it develops into its current iteration.” It said she wanted to stay with the company and be part of the future, but she had to change positions for her mental and physical health. Her bosses were confused. They weren’t sure if she was resigning or not. One boss asked her if she was resigning or if she wanted to be put on some sort of...

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