Fredrickson v. Newtech Dental Laboratory Inc., 2015 BCCA 357 concerns a termination and the employee’s mitigation effort. The matter at hand involved an offer of re-employment by the terminating employer. I see this often and, and question how a terminated employee could go back to an environment that previously let her go. The Court of Appeal in looking at this issue emphasizes existing caselaw that says mitigation in this context turns on whether there is a sufficient level of trust to allow for a re-continuation of the employment relationship.

Re-employment where the employment relationship is not damaged and a sufficient level of trust remains might be an option but otherwise forget it.

It would be a rare case that I would recommend a re-employment offer to either the employee or an employer.