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Digest of the Week — Common Employment Doctrine


King v. 1416088 Ontario Ltd. |  (westlaw Canada)
2014 CarswellOnt 3551 |  (Westlaw Canada)
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Labour and employment law | Employment law | Termination and dismissal | Termination of employment by employer | Miscellaneous

Labour and employment law | Employment law | Termination and dismissal | Remedies | Damages | Pensions

Labour and employment law | Employment law | Termination and dismissal | Remedies | Damages | Several forms of damages considered



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Employer — Employee worked as accountant for employer through various companies from 1973 until his dismissal without cause in 2011 when he was nearly 73 years old — Employer dismissed employee and others due to financial situation and ceased to operate — Employee did not receive statutory termination pay, pay in lieu of notice, vacation pay or retirement benefits — Employer's business resumed operations within two months through new defendant company 986 Ontario Ltd. ("DSL"), using same premises, telephone number and web address, and hiring several old employees — Employee brought action for damages for wrongful dismissal and for payment of retirement compensation — Action allowed — All defendants were jointly and severally responsible for payment of compensation to employee as result of his termination — Company which operated at time of termination had ceased trading, but DSL continued to trade under employer's name — DSL was current incarnation of business that employee worked for over period of 38 years — Groundwork for DSL was being laid while employee was formally employed by employer — Employee's contributions to other defendant companies, and companies' inter-connectedness were such that all defendant companies were considered to have employed employee pursuant to common employment doctrine.
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