B.c. Court Confirms Need For Discipline Records

The B.C. Supreme Court recently affirmed the importance of employers documenting the progressive discipline of problem employees.

In Davidson v. Tahtsa Timber Ltd., the employer claimed it had terminated the employee, a truck driver, for hitting a wall at a repair shop with a truck and lying to the employer about doing so.  The employer claimed it had just cause for summary dismissal.

The employer’s failure to produce evidence showing that the employee had received prior warnings led the court to find that just cause had not been proven and, therefore, that the employee had been wrongfully dismissed.  This decision should serve as a reminder to employers to keep written records when warnings are provided to employees as this type of evidence will be valuable should an employer decide to terminate the employee for cause.

To read the full court decision, visit:
http://canlii.com/eliisa/highlight.do?language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2007/2007bcsc1684/2007bcsc1684.html

For more information on this article, contact Una Florko at:
florko@pushormitchell.com or (250)869-1230