Category : Featured Article

The Ontario Court of Appeal was busy the last two months providing important direction to the employment bar about the enforceability of non-competition agreements in the staffing environment (see  S. I. Systems Partnership v. Geng https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc8086/2020onsc8086.html) and insight on notice and break of service (see Currie v. Nylene Canada Inc., 2021 ONSC 1922 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/jdqzq ).  Both Trial Decisions were upheld..  

Parties to a contract owe an obligation of honesty towards each other (Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71).  They must not act capriciously or arbitrarily.  In the simplest of terms – parties must be honest during performance of a contract and not mislead each another.

As the pandemic lingered and the state of emergency closed the Ontario courts and administrative systems we were forced to change the way trials and hearings proceeded.  This was a careful balancing act between the right to a hearing and the need to minimize the infection rate of COVID-19.

The letter of offer or employment contract must set out the purpose of a probationary period including how performance will be evaluated; what happens if the Employee is unsuccessful;  and what will be paid on termination of employment?

Punitive damages are imposed only if there is highhanded, arbitrary or highly reprehensible conduct that departs to a marked degree from the ordinary standards of decent behaviour.