Case information

None.

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.

Contracts – Breach – Remedies – Damages – Compensatory damages – Appeals – Standard of review –Where a fixed-term employment contract does not include an enforceable provision for early termination without cause is the employee entitled to payment of the unexpired portion of the contract on early termination – Alternatively, is the employee entitled to common law damages for wrongful dismissal – Are fixed-term contracts that do not have an enforceable termination clause subject to the common law notice presumption – In the alternative, if the common law notice presumption is found not to apply, should the principle that liquidated damages are not subject to a duty to mitigate be extended – When can a reviewing court determine that the interpretation of a fixed-term employment contract ought to be reviewed on a standard of correctness – What constitutes an “extricable error of law” in this context – Does considering a provision in isolation satisfy the threshold in Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp., 2014 SCC 53, [2014] 2 S.C.R. 633, for identifying an extricable question of law.

The respondent was employed as a manager at an automotive service centre in Bowmanville Ontario under an employment contract for a five year term. The applicant terminated the respondent after 23 months, without cause, and advised that the respondent would be paid effectively two weeks’ severance pay. The respondent brought an action for breach of contract seeking his compensation for the unexpired portion of his contract.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice determined as a question of law under Rule 21 that a termination clause in the employment contract was unenforceable. The Court granted the respondent’s motion for summary judgment, but awarded him common law damages in lieu of reasonable notice for wrongful dismissal, with the quantum to be determined at a mini trial. The Court of Appeal for Ontario allowed Mr. Howard’s appeal and declared that he was owed an amount equal to his salary and benefits to the end of the term of his employment contract.