Employment Contract Frustration

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.