| David Harris - Canadian Employment Law |
| Ken McNamara
worked for a company in Sudbury, known as Alexander Center
Industries Limited. He was the president and had worked
for the company for 25 years. He was 58 years old. He
delivered a letter to the company in mid July of 1998
asking for a medical leave due to excessive stress.
The company's response was unusual - it sent a letter thanking its president for his resignation. McNamara was shocked. He sent a medical report back advising that he would be off for only 2 weeks and would very much like to be back at work. The chairman of the company was too busy to see him - he was planning his 80th birthday party and just could not make time to see him. He advised McNamara to see his accountant. McNamara called the accountant to see him - it was not possible - the accountant was on holiday. McNamara was beyond belief. His lawyer wrote - no settlement was offered. McNamara sued- the company argued that there was cause for dismissal and refused to pay anything.When the case went to court, the company dropped the argument of performance allegations that it had argued for over 2 years - McNamara won 26 months pay, legal costs and also successfully kept $160,000 worth of disability payments which the company tried to offset from the claim - without success. The Court of Appeal upheld the award in McNamara. The plaintiff was successful in claiming both his severance claim and was able to "double dip" by also maintaining the disability insurance. The Company again appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Leave to appeal was denied.
|