In a dramatic reversal, the Supreme Court has overturned what had been called a “game-changing” decision by the Federal Court of Appeal and ruled that non-unionized employees of federally regulated business are entitled to similar protections against dismissal as those afforded to unionized workers.
Today’s Supreme Court decision “sets the law to what we thought it was prior to the Federal Court of Appeal decision,” says lawyer Stacey Ball.
Today the SCC ruled six to three in the case of Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. In February 2015 the Federal Court of Appeal [link] had held that federally regulated employers may dismiss employees without cause. The general consensus previously was that employees governed by the Canada Labour Code could only be terminated for just cause.
“It sets the law to what we thought it was prior to the Federal Court of Appeal decision. We’ve gone back to what most people thought the legislation meant prior to adjudicator Wakeling [n Knopp v. Western Bulk Transport Ltd.],” says Stacey Ball of Ball Professional Corporation who was counsel for the intervener Canadian Association for Non-Organized employees. “Basically, you can’t dismiss someone on a without cause basis. The employee has a substantive right to challenge their dismissal now."
"This is an extremely important judgment and confirms that employees of federally-regulated corporations and agencies cannot be terminated from their jobs except for just cause," said employment James LeNoury in a statement. LeNoury represents Wilson and argued the case before the Supreme Court.
For more on this story see http://canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse-home.html on Monday.