Case 1

Sarah, a young mother with two children, had worked at the counter of a Tim Hortons store for three years. One day she was seen giving a donut to a crying child who came into the store with their parents. When the manager of the store confronted Sarah about giving a donut away for free, Sarah readily admitted to giving the donut away to the customer without paying for it. She was aware that this was against the employer's policy, but she had been busy at the time and did not go to her purse to get the $1.50 to pay for the donut at that time. Also, knowing that day-old donuts are given away to small children in the store regularly, she felt this would be acceptable.Sarah expected to get a warning at most and weas shocked when her manager terminated her for cause. Sarah files a wrongful dismissal case. (PLEASE NOTE: I am not looking for your opinion. Use concepts discussed in class or your textbook to provide an evidence-based response.)

1. Discuss how you believe the court will rule and explain why.
2. Discuss what the employer should do to protect themselves from future claims.

Case 2

Emma owns a small Human Resources consulting company. Emma wants to terminate one of her consultants, Ernesto, for performance-related problems. Ernesto, who is 49 years old, has been with the company for 5 years and the quality of his work has been excellent. Ernesto is a very nice person and clients love him. The issue is that Ernesto is a perfectionist and is extremely slow at getting anything done. He keeps missing crucial client deadlines, and clients are starting to take their business to Emma's competitors. Emma has spoken with Ernesto about this many times over the years and has noted the problem in his performance reviews, but there has been no improvement. Emanual just isn't capable of working at the pace that Emma requires. Emma decides to terminate Ernesto's employment with cause. Ernesto files a wrongful dismissal claim.

1. Discuss how you believe the court will rule and explain why.
2. Discuss what the employer should do to protect themselves from future claims.

Case 3

Two co-workers are working alone in a park.Both are grounds keepers and regularly work together pruning trees and shrubs, watering, and making sure the park is maintained. There has been friendly banter between the two that can sometimes cross the line, but both actively participate in this banter. One day, worker 1 takes the banter a step further and inappropriately touches worker 2. Worker 2 is shocked and embarrassed and immediately reports the incident to their manager. The manager discusses the situation with worker 1 but no further action is taken.Worker 1 has a clean performance record and has never behaved this way while with the employer. Worker 1 starts to act passively hostile with worker 2 which makes worker 2 decide their only option is to quit. Worker 2 resigns and files a constructive dismissal complaint.

a. Discuss how you believe the court will rule and explain why.

b. Discuss what the employer should do to protect themselves from future claims.