Supreme Court refuses leave to Appeal from Swegon Decision

In our summer 2020 Newsletter, we reviewed a case from the Ontario Court of Appeal called Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc.  As you may recall, the Court of Appeal determined that notwithstanding the validity of the “without cause” provision in an employment agreement, that because the “with cause” provision was contrary to the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the entire contract was void.  It did not matter to the Court of Appeal that the termination was without cause and cause was not an issue in the case.

On January 14, 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed the application for leave to appeal the Swegon decision. As such, this decision stands in Ontario and employers should carefully review existing employment agreements to ensure that both for cause and without cause provisions are enforceable.  If you have any questions about the decision, and how it could impact your contracts, please contact one of our lawyers and we will be happy to review your existing employment agreements.