Over the last few weeks, BCE (Bell Canada’s parent company) terminated an undisclosed number of non-unionized employees across the country for alleged violations of the “return to work” policy.

Bell spokesperson Luc Levasseur has attributed these terminations to “clear violations of [their] code of conduct[,]” particularly its return to office policy called “workways”.

What We Think

One should treat Bell’s words with caution. As our founder, Jean-Alexandre De Bousquet, stated in the Toronto Star, the terminations are “an economic layoff disguised as a mass firing for cause”, with management condoning the conduct throughout recent years.

As such, De Bousquet PC is currently representing dozens of former Bell employees terminated by what is in our view a wave of mass wrongful dismissals.

What Can You Do?

If you are a non-unionized employee who was terminated by Bell with cause for breaches of policy, you are not alone, and you may have more rights than you were told.

Regardless of how a firing if formally labelled (layoff, restructuring, etc.) if you are non-unionized, your rights are governed by the Labour Code and Canadian common law, NOT internal company policy.

As leading lawyers in wrongful dismissals, we know what employers are obligated to do, and what parts of your contract might not matter as much as you may think.

To learn more about your rights and seek help, reach out at info@debousquet.com or call us at 416-616-5628.