employees in wrongful dismissal cases
Wrongful dismissal occurs when an employer fires an employee in violation of the law. The firing can violate a statute, a federal or provincial labour code, or common law employment standards. Typically, the wrongful termination causes financial harm to the terminated worker. The harm can include lost wages, loss of career opportunities and emotional distress. In wrongful termination cases, courts will award damages to compensate victims for their losses.
The financial compensation in a wrongful dismissal claim is called “compensatory damages.” Generally speaking, the money awarded is made up of back pay, loss of future earning capacity, damages for breach of contract, and other forms of economic damages. The loss of future earning capacity is usually the largest component of the award. Back pay includes the wages an individual would have received if they had not been fired, as well as any income the terminated employee has earned since their firing and any benefits they have not yet collected (e.g., health insurance or retirement contributions).
In some circumstances, the termination may also constitute a breach of an implied promise or oral contract. If you can show that an employer made verbal promises of continued employment or specific termination procedures, and that these were not honoured upon your firing, you might be entitled to additional damages beyond the basic awards.
What remedies are available to employees in wrongful dismissal cases?
In addition to the quantifiable financial damages, a successful claimant can also receive sizeable general non-economic damages for things like stress, humiliation, damage to reputation and other intangible impacts of an unjust termination. In particularly egregious or repeat statutory violations, successful plaintiffs can also obtain liquidated damages that serve as deterrents for employers.
Finally, the court can order that you be reinstated to your job if it is determined that you were wrongfully dismissed. While most courts prefer to award claimants monetary damages instead of reinstating them, this remedy can be very powerful in terms of the impact on your career and ability to find new employment. In some cases, the court may even restore seniority that was lost due to the wrongful dismissal toronto.
While the remedies available to you in a wrongful termination case are many and varied, they are only effective if your lawyer can prove that you were fired on illegal grounds. As such, you will need to provide your lawyer with as much documentary evidence as possible to counter any reasons given by the employer as to why they fired you. This will include any documents, letters or emails that prove you were discriminated against, were fired for blowing the whistle on illegal activity or were wrongfully terminated in retaliation for your participation in a union. For these reasons, it is important that you do not delay in seeking the advice of a skilled wrongful dismissal lawyer toronto. We will assist you in identifying the relevant documentation and building a strong case that supports your claims for redress. We do this at no upfront cost to you.
