08 Dec The Types of Damages that are Remedies for Employees
If an employee believes their employer has engaged in misconduct or maltreatment at the workplace, suing the employer for money (or in legal terms, damages) is a tool the employee may use if they are willing to take legal action. The types of damages are wrongful dismissal damages and general damages, which includes extraordinary Employment Law damages and Human Rights damages.
Wrongful Dismissal Damages
A wrongful dismissal claim may be filed when an employer fails to adequately terminate the employee according to either the Employment Standards Act (ESA) or the originally agreed upon Employment Contract. An employee can sue for wrongful dismissal damages when the employer has not provided a suitable amount of termination notice, severance pay, benefits, pension, commission, or in equity. In Ontario, an employer must adhere to the compensation and timelines that are defined in the ESA and that were promised in the original Employment Agreement, or the employee may legally sue.
General Damages
An employee may sue for extraordinary employment law damages based on the manner the employer treated or terminated the employment relationship. These damages include punitive damages, bad faith damages, breach of contract damages, aggravated damages etc. For example, if an employee were to sue for aggravated damages, the employer would have treated the employee “in bad faith” at the workplace or upon dismissal. For an employer to be acting “in bad faith” toward the employee, the treatment would be recognized as humiliating, untruthful, misleading or insensitive by the court.
Lastly, an employee may sue their employer for human rights damages through the Human Rights Tribunal. In these cases, an employee would sue if they believed their employer engaged in discriminatory conduct related to age, race, disability, gender, sexual orientation etc. An employee could also sue for human rights damages if there was any form of harassment at the workplace that was related to age, race, disability, gender, sexual orientation etc.
If you are considering suing an employer for damages or have more questions about how this process works, please contact KCY at LAW by filling in an online consultation request or contact us by phone at 905-639-0999 to book your consultation today.