Denied Disability?
Lost your Job?

The first thing you must do is stay calm. When you’re ready, contact our Hamilton employment lawyers confidentially  by calling us at 905-333-8888 or by filling in a contact form. We will get back to you within reasonable time. We will send you an email advising you what we need from you when we speak to you to discuss your termination. During our telephone call or in person meeting, we will discuss all of your options and whether or not you have a case against your employer. The consultation is without obligation. We will help inform you of your legal rights and answer any questions you may have.

We typically set up a free phone consultation to discuss your case. We typically do not provide legal advice during the free phone call but instead, provide you with guidance on whether or not you have a case. If we believe that you do have a case, we will invite you for an in-office consultation. Our in-office consultations are not free. We do charge a fee – but in certain cases there are arrangements that we can make to pay for your consultation at the end of your case.  Losing a job is a very serious event and if you have been terminated, we believe that everyone involved will appreciate the value of time and services better if there is a fee for service involved.

Consultations are free for individuals denied long-term disability benefits. We are able to extend this courtesy since these cases are often litigated and if successful, the defendant disability insurance companies will be ordered to provide costs or a portion of legal costs to the plaintiff, if that plaintiff is successful at trial.

It’s hard to tell because often times people don’t understand the concept of wrongful dismissal. Wrongful dismissal does not mean that you are terminated wrongly, but rather it means that you are not given reasonable notice of your termination. In every non-unionized employment relationship, an employer has an employed common-law obligation to give employees reasonable notice of its intention to terminate the employment relationship (unless there is just cause for termination). If the employer fails to give the employee reasonable notice of termination, the employee can bring a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal for the breach of that implied term. When we speak of wrongful dismissal, it means that you weren’t provided enough notice or payment in lieu of notice. If you are unsure if you have not been provided sufficient notice of termination or payment of notice, it’s best you speak to a Hamilton employment lawyer.

The word severance is a bit misunderstood. The better way to think of severance is separation pay. In order to calculate separation pay, an employer must pay an employee statutory minimums as set out in the Employment Standards Act of Ontario, or the Canada Labour Code. Under the Employment Standards Act or the Canada Labour code, an employer must pay termination pay and if required, severance pay. These are minimum payments owed by law to employees that have been terminated.

Once those minimums are satisfied, the employer must turn his or her mind to the calculation of reasonable notice. An employer who dismisses an employee without just cause is obliged to provide the employee with reasonable notice of termination of his or her employment. In a wrongful dismissal action, the employee has the onus of establishing that he is entitled to a particular form of compensation during this notice period, and establishing the financial value of his or her damages. Wrongful dismissal damages are generally calculated from the date of the employer’s breach of the employment contract (i.e. the date that employment was terminated without proper notice, pay in lieu or other termination entitlements). To determine the financial value of an employee’s loss, a Court will typically break the employee’s compensation and benefits down to a monthly or weekly figure, then multiply this value by the months or weeks of reasonable notice. That amount, inclusive of statutory payments, will be paid to an employee, less what has been paid and or less mitigation income.

Courts in Ontario are not limited to awarding wrongful dismissal damages only. Courts in Ontario are entitled to award damages for injury to dignity feelings and self respect. In 2006, the Ontario Human Rights Code was amended to provide authority to the Superior Court  under S.46  of the Code to award human rights damages for the discrimination and infringement of code rights.

While the Human Rights Tribunal is limited to awarding damages and compensation for injury to dignity feelings self-respect and special damages, the Superior Court can award general damages intended to compensate an employee for pain and suffering, including injury to dignity feelings and self-respect, special damages (which are designed to return the plaintiff to the same financial position he or she was in prior to the alleged violations), aggravated damages, punitive damages as well as interest costs and disbursements.

Courts, like the Human Rights Tribunal, will provide a focused analysis on the objective seriousness of the conduct and the affect of the discrimination on the particular applicant or plaintiff. Courts will look at a plaintiff’s humiliation, embarrassment, lost self-respect, loss of dignity, loss of confidence, victimization, loss of self-esteem, vulnerability, as well as the frequency and seriousness of the discrimination and offensive  treatment.

We have helped employers of all sizes. We have helped small businesses with 5 employees. We have helped advertising agencies with over 30 employees. We’ve helped pool companies with over 100 employees. Size is no matter. We are happy to help any type of employer make the right decision when structuring a termination package or litigating a case.