In this employment law case we acted as lawyers for Pat Devlin, who had for some years acted as President and Chief Executive Officer of NEMI Northern Energy and Mining Inc. Our client sought and recovered a substantial award based on a contractual clause mandating a termination payment in the event of a dismissal without just cause. A new Board of Directors took over NEMI after a proxy contest, and Mr. Devlin was told to cease active work as President until the new board investigated and determined what was to be done regarding his contract. Mr. Devlin had been accused of misconduct by the persons mounting the proxy contest. The court determined that when the new Board took over and sent Mr. Devlin home, even though it did not say his job was over, it amounted to an actual termination, (thus a wrongful dismissal) and there was no question that the company did not have cause for summary dismissal. Mr. Devlin was awarded 18 months pay pursuant to the termination clause in his employment agreement. When Mr. Devlin sued for amounts due under his agreement, NEMI took the position that by suing, Mr. Devlin effectively quit. This was rejected. The court found also that if Devlin was not actually dismissed when he was sent home, he was constructively dismissed by new management’s removal of duties and responsibilities.
This is an important decision on the subject of the interpretation of written employment agreements, wrongful dissmissals (constructive dismissals), and damage claims including claims for unpaid bonus.