Ontario civil | Labour and Employment Law | Employment law | Termination and dismissal
Employee was dismissed from his employment as service advisor at retail store, after being accused of installing spyware on his employer’s computer and being charged by police with unauthorized possession of credit card data, but charges were eventually withdrawn. Pin pad fraud was perpetrated on store day after employee's dismissal, but employee was not charged with that. Employee brought action for, among others, wrongful dismissal. Action dismissed. It was established on balance of probabilities that employee was responsible for installation of spyware on manager's computer. Employer's theory that employee was responsible for spyware was more credible than employee's theory that he was framed. Employee's refusal to upsell to customers was not related to his dismissal and it did not provide motive for defendants to conspire against employee. There was no evidence that defendants were involved in pin pad fraud or used employee as diversion to cover up pin pad fraud. Employer had just cause to dismiss employee. Surreptitious installation of spyware on employer’s computer constituted breach of faith or trust inherent in work relationship and was not single incident. If employee had been wrongfully dismissed, he would have been entitled to five months' notice period and would not have been entitled to punitive or moral damages.
Sankreacha v. Cameron J. and Beach Sales Ltd. (2018), 2018 CarswellOnt 20347, 2018 ONSC 7216, R.E. Charney J. (Ont. S.C.J.).
