1. Paulina received an accounting technician diploma from TRU in 2011 and was hired by Cash Flow Accounting Services Inc. ("CFAS") as a technician. He signed an employment contract two days before starting work that had a termination clause stating she would be paid two weeks pay for every year she worked for CFAS if CFAS chose to end the employment relationship. Paulina took night courses while working for CFAS and attained a professional accounting designation (CPA) in 2016. After that Paulina took on new and more complex duties with CFAS and was responsible for a higher level of work including supervising new accounting technicians. He also received a large raise. Last week CFAS decided to end Paulina's employment without cause and intends to rely on the termination provisions in its contract.

What is your advice to Paulina?

2. Cory owns a forklift and specializes in loading and unloading flatbed trucks. He works for several firms in town and starts working for Big Heart Trucking Ltd. ("BHT") as a weekend freight handler. Cory's job is to use his forklift to move freight from one truck to another through the BHT's distribution warehouse in Kamloops. Cory works on a call-in basis but usually they BHT requires his services both Saturday and Sunday. BHT does not set Cory's hours, but BHT states that they will pay Cory $95 for every truck he loads (this usually takes 90 minutes or so). Sometimes when things get busy, Cory will work later into the evening to deal with additional work requirements. BHT pays him the flat rate of $95 per truckload regardless of the hours worked.

Cory speaks with his child who is a very smart BLAW3920 student and asks if he can complain to the director of Employment Standards about how he is being treated. Cory says "BHT says I am a contractor but would rather be paid on an hourly basis and get vacation pay".

a. Is Cory really a contractor? Why or why not?

b. What possible remedies are available to Cory?

3. A group of investors hires Charles Norris to run a large martial arts school called the "Fighting Cobra Kung Fu Studio" ("Cobra") Charles is given a generous salary and makes him manager over 12 other instructors operating under Charles' supervision. Charles has signed a non-competition clause restricting him from teaching at, owning, or operating a martial arts school within a 15-km radius of the employer's existing business for one year after leaving employment. Six months after he starts at Cobra, Charles decides to quit and a week later he takes a job with a competing martial arts school located only 1 km away.

Is the non-competition clause enforceable? Why or why not?

4. Maria works in a large daycare where she and her 50 co-workers provide care for small children. Maria feels that the pay and the benefits she receives for the work she does is sub-standard so she speaks with a representative of the Children's Careworkers Union ("CCU"). The Union suggests that Maria try to sign other workers up to the CCU. She is told that if she gets enough workers to join the CCU they can be "certified". Maria gets some sign up forms from the union and begins to approach her co-workers about joining the CCU.

Maria's employer learns that she is signing up co-workers for the CCU.One day Maria calls into work and says she cannot show up for work that day because her child is very sick and she had to take her child to the doctor. The employer says that Maria is fired for being away from work unauthorized.

What protections would be available to Maria?

If Maria managed to get 16 other workers to sign up for the union,

Describe the next step in the process

5. Using the same fact pattern as above.....presume Maria has signed up a majority of the workers. On learning this, the owner of the daycare notifies the employees that ten percent of them will have to be laid off if they vote not to join the CCU.

Is the employer permitted to do that? Why or why not?

6. Martin has been employed by Cantech Manufacuring Inc. ("CANTECH") for the past 9 years as director of product development. Although he is generally happy at CANTECH, he was recently passed over for a promotion he believes he deserved and is considering leaving CANTECH to pursue another opportunity.

Martin receives a call from Tony, senior vice president of manufacturing for Green Thumb Environmental ("Green"), a manufacturer and distributor of health products. Green is a large organization with offices throughout the world; it is seeking a director of business development. Martin meets Tom to discuss the potential position. Tony explains that Greenhas secured a $35 million investment from a firm in the United Kingdomto launch a new product and that Martin would be in charge of the entire marketing campaign.

Martin accepts the position with Green and Tony asks him to start work in 3 weeks. They verbally agree on the job duties and salary and shake hands. Martin gives 2 weeks' notice at CANTECH. Shortly after Martin starts working at Green, he receives an email from Tony. He explains that he should have asked Martin to sign a contract. He sends him a contract that outlines the conditions of employment they had discussed. It also contains a provision that limits Martin's entitlement on termination without just cause to the minimum amounts and entitlements set out in the BC Employment Standards Act.Martin signs it.

Three months after he started, Martin is told he will be terminated without cause. When he asks for an explanation, he is told that the new product is being cancelled. When Martin asks Tony what happened to the investors, he says they had told him a few days before he hired him that they were not certain about signing the agreement and they "would be looking into other options.

a. Explain any Tort Remedy Martin would have against Green.

b. Is Martin's written employment contract valid?Why or why not?

b. Are there flaws in the written contract that Martin signed? If so what are they?

c. How do you think a judge would decide this case?