Ontario court awards employee $150,000 in moral damages
Ontario Courts have repeatedly emphasized that compensation provisions are subject to the same good‑faith obligations that govern all aspects of the employment relationship. Where compensation has been earned and is contractually owed, employers do not have the discretion to delay payment, use it as leverage, or attempt to retrospectively alter entitlements.
That principle was forcefully applied by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Kirchmair v. EXP Global Inc., 2025 ONSC 3103, where the court awarded an employee $150,000 in moral damages following the employer’s prolonged refusal to pay an earned bonus.
The employee participated in a bonus plan that was expressly non‑discretionary. Entitlement was calculated using a fixed mathematical formula with defined payment dates.
There was no suggestion that management discretion played any role in determining the bonus payable, nor was there any dispute that the employee had satisfied all criteria necessary to earn the bonus.
By early 2017, the employee had earned a bonus of about $148,000. Despite being contractually owed, the bonus was never paid and remained outstanding as of Trial in 2025.
Justice Healey rejected the employer’s position that the failure to pay the bonus was the result of administrative delay or confusion. The evidence showed a deliberate course of conduct by the employer that the court found to be incompatible with the employer’...
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