The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently dismissed an employer’s attempt to establish after-acquired cause — even though it found the employee in question had committed a serious breach of conduct.
The employee had been working for BMO Nesbitt Burns for 23 years when she was terminated without cause in 2018. She initiated a wrongful dismissal claim shortly thereafter, which BMO contested.
During the discovery stage of the proceedings, it was discovered that prior to her termination, the employee, an investment advisor, had copied thousands of emails containing confidential client information onto a USB device and taken it to her home office.
