Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Courts – Jurisdiction – Psychological harassment in workplace alleged – Constructive dismissal alleged – Moral and exemplary damages claimed – Whether Court of Appeal erred in law in finding that employer had civil immunity and in limiting employee’s action to legislative scheme applicable to employment injuries – Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases, R.S.Q. c. A 3.001, ss. 25, 349, 438 – Charter of human rights and freedoms, R.S.Q. c. C 12, s. 49(2).

In July 2002, the Applicant was hired by the Respondent Bank at the end of a selection process. She then began working as project leader, commercialization, and seemed to be valued. According to her allegations, certain managers gradually began excluding her, discrediting her work and denigrating her to other employees. This became a constant situation until she notified the Bank in June 2005 that she was taking sick leave. In September 2005, she gave the Respondent a document setting out the events that, in her opinion, constituted psychological harassment. She resigned on October 28, 2005 after the employer failed to respond. In June 2008, after finding a new job with another company, the Applicant brought an action in the Superior Court seeking several hundred thousand dollars in material and moral damages and $50,000 in exemplary damages. She alleged that the managers’ intentional malice had driven her to leave, which amounted to constructive dismissal. The Respondent filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail had exclusive jurisdiction.