Exclusive to Canadian HR Reporter from Rudner Law.
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision addressed the law on mitigation of damages and the awarding of aggravated damages. The decision should serve as a reminder to employees about the potential liabilities they may face in two regards:
- employers face an uphill battle when they argue that a dismissed employee did not take reasonable steps to mitigate their damages; and
- a dismissed employee can be awarded aggravated damages, in addition to their entitlements upon dismissal, even when there is no medical evidence to demonstrate that the employee suffered a diagnosable psychological injury.
Medical leave
Drago Krmpotic was employed by the defendant companies for almost 30 years, from 1987 to June 13, 2016, when his employment was terminated without cause. Krmpotic suffered a number of workplace injuries over the course of his employment, and had been on medical leave to recover from back surgery.
