The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a wrongful dismissal award of 24 months’ notice and $50,000 in aggravated damages, even though there was no medical evidence of the worker’s mental distress.
The now-67-year-old worker was hired in 1987 to work in the maintenance department of Thunder Bay Electronics Limited (TBEL), a local television broadcast and multimedia company in Thunder Bay, Ont. At the same time, he was hired by Hill Street Financial services, a company that provided administrative and accounting services for TBEL. Hill Street owned the building and its president was also the vice-president and general manager of TBEL.
The worker’s job duties included moving heavy objects, demolition, waste removal, building maintenance, and climbing transmission towers to service and change equipment. He later became the building and vehicle maintenance supervisor.
