$10,000 moral damages award highlights legal, reputational risks of negative comments about dismissed workers

"You never want to be trash talking former employees," says Sara Kauder, senior employment lawyer at Minken Employment Lawyers. "It's potentially problematic for an employer, but it's also going to create a negative feeling among employees who are still there."

That warning rings true after a recent decision from the Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan, where a students' union was ordered to pay $10,000 in moral damages — in part because of demeaning comments made about a wrongfully dismissed employee during and after the termination process.

“As an employer who's made the decision to part ways, you don't want to be poisoning the well for that employee because then you're impacting their ability to find new employment, to earn a living, damaging their personal reputation, their professional reputation,” says Kauder. “There's a lot of ripple effects."

Dismissal by students’ union

Haris Khan was employed as director of programs and public relations at the Students' Union of the University of Regina (URSU) under a contract that guaranteed 12 months' notice or severance upon termination. He was dismissed for cause in February 2024 — without warning, without prior discipline, and in the middle of a transition period following the departure of URSU's general manager.

The termination letter accused Khan of absenteeism and time theft. In fact, he had been working from...

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