Mitigation

The duty to mitigate is the rule that individuals who are dismissed from work must look for a new job during their notice period. For example, if someone is dismissed from work and they ought to receive twelve months’ notice, then during that next twelve months, they must look for a new job as per …

If an employee who is terminated from work demands or sues for more severance, and they subsequently earn new income from new work before their severance matter is resolved, all that new income earned by the employee within the reasonable notice period will be subtracted from any severance claim against the employer. This is called …

Introduction The Ontario Court of Appeal, in Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc., 2017 ONCA 402 (CanLII), recently clarified the law of mitigation. The duty to mitigate is an employment law principle that requires employees who are terminated without reasonable notice (i.e. a wrongful dismissal) to look for a new job. If a new job is …

This case demonstrates the old idiom – don’t go throwing good money at bad. Here, in the recent case from the Ontario Superior Court, Sinnathamby v The Chesterfield Shop Limited, the Plaintiff, Ms. Sinnathamby, was a fourteen year employee at the defendant Chesterfield Shop. The Plaintiff’s employment was terminated for just cause; the Chesterfield Shop alleged …