TevlinGleadle’s (Chris Forguson) successful jury trial in Larry Higgingson v. Babine Forest Products Ltd. has garnered considerable media attention amongst legal and other commentators. The decision has implications for employment law (issues of punitive damages, wrongful dismissal, allegations of just cause, improperly advanced) but also broad implications beyond employment law where juries are asked to award punitive damages for inappropriate conduct on the part of a defendant.
See for example:
- Canadian Lawyer & Law Times Blog (B.C. court awards largest punitive damages ever in employment law case)
- Carters.ca (Fired BC worker awarded over $800,000 by jury)
- ForestTalk.com (Wrongful dismissal costs Babine Forest Products over $800,000)
- Miller Thomson LLP (Scheming to get rid of a worker costs employer nearly $1 million)
- Minken Employment Lawyers (Comment on award, largest punitive damage award for wrongful dismissal in BC employment law area)
- British Columbia Employment Lawyers Blog (Employee Termination and the Importance of Being Fair)
- British Columbia Employment Lawyer Blog (Employment Termination: The risks employers take by treating employees unfairly)
- Devy Smith Frank LLP Blog (Wrongful Dismissal Case Garners Record Punitive Damages Award)
- HR Partner (Wrongful Dismissal – Burns Lake Case)
- Kanata Lawyer Compelling Counsel Blog (Over $800,000.00 awarded in British Columbia wrongful dismissal case)
- Mondaq (Canada: Denunciation, Deterrence And Retribution: Jury Awards Dismissed Employee $573,000 In Punitive Damages)
- McCarthy Tetreault Employment Law Blog (A jury trial does not result in reasons for decision, but it seems the jury was convinced that there was no cause for dismissal, that the employer had cooked up the cause excuse to avoid severance liability and that the employee suffered as a result.)
- Fishman Lawyers ($573,000 awarded in BC employment law wrongful dismissal action)
- CC Partners Employment Law Commentary (BC Jury hands down largest ever Punitive Damages Award in Canadian Employment History)
- Harris and Co. (New high-water mark for punitive damages awarded in BC employment law, wrongful dismissal case)
- HR Hero (Punitive damages awards increasing in Canadian employment law cases)
- McMillan Lawyers (juries punish employers: two recent cases highlight the risk of treating employees poorly)
- Quebec Labour and Employment Law Blog (Generous injuries: Record-breaking punitive damages awareded)
- Lesprom (Wrongful dismissal costs Babine Forest Products over $800,000)
- Canadian Human Rights Reporter (Jury hands out $573,000 for employer’s improper conduct in termination, wrongful dismissal and punitive damage award)
- Exceptional Communications Blog (There was a time not so long ago where organizations ruled by fear. Today you still don’t have to look hard to find remnants of these leadership styles. It’s a wonder that there weren’t more wrongful dismissal suits along the way.)
- The Prince George Citizen (A Prince George jury has awarded a former Burns Lake sawmill manager the largest punitive damages award in an employment law case in Canadian history.)
- Canadian Wood Products (Wrongful dismissal costs Babine Forest Products over $800,000)
- Blaney McMurtry Lawyers (New Cases Change the Rules for Damages in Wrongful Dismissal Cases)
- Toronto Sun (LF Press) (Recent court cases put abusive employers on notice)
- Canadian Workplace Law Blog (Dismissed employee can examine immediate supervisor; tort claim against affiliated company allowed to proceed)
- HRM Online (“Bogus allegations” see $800,000 payout in wrongful dismissal case)
- Sheryl Smolkin Blog (Jury awards $809,000 in record wrongful dismissal case)
- Financial Post (Wrongful Dismissal Law Now Favours Employees)
- Welland Tribune (Higginson sued for wrongful dismissal. His employer, Babine Forest Products, defended claiming just cause, in that Higginson failed to perform his duties and refused to cooperate in implementing steps to improve the operation of the mill.)
- Toronto Sun (Employers’ misconduct costly. Canadian courts loosening the purse strings for employees who have been treated unfairly)
- The Lawyer’s Weekly (If you can claim an independent tort other than wrongful dismissal it really opens the door to punitive damages)
- Levitt LLP (Wrongful Dismissal Law Now Favours Employees)