Court of Appeal Weighs in on Employee Dishonesty
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in Black v. The Unique Kitchen Studio Limited (May 18, 2004 Ont. C.A.).
The employer's position on the appeal was that Ms. Black was dismissed for just cause because she had given herself and another employee unauthorized increases in salary and vacation pay. This argument had been rejected by the trial judge who found that "although “in the literal sense the plaintiff did not have authorization for the increases”, Ms. Black’s conduct amounted to an indiscretion rather than dishonesty. He then applied the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of Canada in McKinley v. BC Tel and found that just cause was not present. The Court of Appeal upheld this.
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