Palmer v. Clemco Industries Inc., 2010 BCSC 230 deals with the dismissal of two older, senior management level employees.
Employee 1: 60 years old, 14 year employee, service manager for a restaurant grease trap bio-remediator. 15 months reasonable notice.
Employee 2: Similar age and responsibility as an office manager. 11 month notice.
The doctrine of contract frustration deals with situations where a party cannot meet their obligations under a contract due to some non-culpable event. In the case of employment contracts the situation often arises where an employee becomes ill or disabled to the extent that they can’t perform their job anymore or for an extended period of time. See Wightman Estate v. 2774046 Canada Inc., 2006 BCCA 424, in which the application of the doctrine of frustration is determined on the basis of the language of the contract. In this particular case the contract contemplated frustration on the facts at hand.
M.D.A. Marine Design Associates Ltd. v. British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., 2008 BCSC 1432, lays out a great professional reputation defamation analysis applicable to contract and employment scenarios.
Miller’s Landing Pub Ltd. v. Liquor Control Licensing Branch (General Manager), 2009 BCSC 1352, outlines an excellent BC perspective on Judicial Review standards. It isn’t quite as simple as just applying correctness or reasonableness.
This week sees the BC Supreme Court issue a ruling in Blackmore v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 1299, that says once the AG makes a decision not to prosecute a criminal matter, that decision is final. The AG may not then have the matter further reviewed and decide to prosecute the matter. Especially not three times.
The ruling also has a very useful summary of jurisdictional issues and decision making powers.