\\Accidents happen \u2014 but do they justify being fired?<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
In Ontario, simply having a workplace accident is not automatically just cause for dismissal. Employers must prove that your conduct went beyond a mere mistake. Just cause is a high bar, and courts apply a contextual approach to determine whether it\u2019s met.<\/p>\n
When It\u2019s NOT Just Cause:<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n When It MAY Be Just Cause:<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n Case in Point:<\/b> In Rankin v. Active Mold and Design<\/i>, a single safety breach involving hazardous equipment was enough for termination because of the danger posed. In this case, the employee left dangerous machinery running unattended; a serious safety violation. The equipment could have injured others in the shop. It wasn\u2019t a pattern of behaviour, just a single incident, but the consequences could\u2019ve been catastrophic. The employer terminated him for cause, and the court agreed. Even though it was a one-time mistake, the court found it was reckless<\/b> and posed an imminent safety risk<\/b>. That elevated the incident from mere negligence to serious misconduct.<\/p>\n Case in Point<\/b>: Daley v. Depco International<\/i> demonstrates that if there are repeated issues around safety, a termination can be justified. Daley\u2019s employer kept a file on his repeated workplace issues: carelessness, absences, arguments with co-workers, amounting to nine incidents in total. After repeated warnings and discipline, the final straw was another preventable problem. When the company fired him for cause, Daley challenged it in court. But the court said enough was enough. Even though no single mistake was serious enough to justify dismissal on its own, the pattern of misconduct showed a lack of reliability and poor judgment over time. That justified termination for cause.<\/p>\n Case in Point<\/b>: Lagala v. Patene Building Supplies<\/i> shows that dishonesty around a workplace injury can lead to just cause for termination. Lagala was a health and safety manager, so she was someone expected to model compliance. When she suffered a workplace injury, she didn\u2019t report it for months, even though it was her legal obligation under the WSIB. When her employer found out, she was fired for cause. The Ontario Superior Court upheld the dismissal because of the failure to report, the concealment, and the fact that she was in a leadership role where trust and integrity were crucial.<\/p>\n Employer Responsibility Matters:<\/b> If your employer failed to train you properly or didn\u2019t enforce safety policies, that weakens their case for firing you \u201cfor cause.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/b> A workplace accident usually means termination without cause<\/b>, which requires notice or severance. Only serious misconduct justifies being fired \u201cfor cause.\u201d<\/p>\n Need Help?<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n Give our office a call. The lawyers at\u00a0De Bousquet PC<\/b>\u00a0are here to support Ontario workers. Whether you\u2019re reviewing a contract or dealing with a workplace issue, we can help you understand your rights and your options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \\Accidents happen \u2014 but do they justify being fired? In Ontario, simply having a workplace accident is not automatically just cause for dismissal. Employers must prove that your conduct went beyond a mere mistake. Just cause is a high bar, and courts apply a contextual approach to determine whether it\u2019s met. When It\u2019s NOT Just Cause: A one-time error in judgment Simple negligence Honest mistakes When It MAY Be Just Cause: Gross negligence or reckless disregard for safety Deliberate breaches of safety protocols Repeated misconduct, despite prior warnings Dishonesty, such as failing to report the incident Case in Point: In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1197"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1199,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions\/1199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debousquet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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