2016 BCSC 830 Luchuk v. Starbucks Coffee Canada Inc. deals with the termination of an 18 year Starbucks manager. Notice was fixed at 17 months.

The employer had offered 8 weeks notice. A life time supply of coffee would have been a better offer. I don’t understand why employers do this as it looks bad and costs a lot of money and time.

The Courts said this on mitigation:

[39] In summary, the burden on a defendant to prove that a plaintiff failed to mitigate is a high one. The defense has to prove not only that the employee did not take such steps as a reasonable person in the dismissed employee’s position would have taken in their own interests, but must also show that if the plaintiff had taken those steps, the employee likely would have found equivalent employment.

Not a difficult concept, summed up neatly here.