A fired BC employee in the skilled trades claimed he got wrongfully terminated, then sued his employer for severance pay.
Joshua Percival took his employer, Kevin Mueller, who does business as Countryside Woodworks, to court via a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal hearing.
He claimed he was terminated without notice and claimed $5,000 in damages.
In response, Mueller denied that Percival was terminated at all and that he had just stopped showing up to work. Mueller said that if Percival’s employment was terminated, he wasn’t entitled to severance pay “as he mitigated any loss by taking on new work.”
Here’s what the tribunal said.
- You might also like:
- Car dealership gets unexpected result after suing "overpaid" ex-employee
- "Borderline insubordinate": Woman wins costly lawsuit after being wrongfully fired over an email
- "I wouldn’t work there again": Former Value Village employee speaks out about her experience
Percival began working as a construction manager for Mueller around April 2021. While no contract was submitted as evidence, it was undisputed that Percival was paid $30 per hour for an indefinite term. Almost a year later, in May 2022, Percival stopped working for Mueller.
He claims that on May 2, 2022, Mueller terminated his employment over the phone. To support this claim, Percival submitted a text message he sent Mueller that day, thanking Mueller for the call and indicating he enjoyed working with them.
Those texts also revealed Percival’s expectation of three to four months of severance pay.
A few months later, Percival filed a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch for unpaid wages. While the complaint was settled in August 2023, Percival maintained that he was owed severance pay.
Despite Mueller’s denial, further texts prove that he indeed fired Percival and that there was a conversation about severance.
Thankfully for Percival, the tribunal sided with him.
“Mr. Percival was employed for slightly more than a year at an annual salary of around $72,849.60, based on the average number of weekly hours he worked in the two months before his dismissal. Given his title and supervisory role, his position appears to have been one of some responsibility. For these reasons, I allow Mr. Percival’s claim for $5,000, which is the equivalent of about 3.5 weeks of severance pay,” the tribunal decision reads.
Percival walked away with that $5,000, plus $499.29 in tribunal fees.
Have you ever dealt with severance issues as an employee in BC? Let us know in the comments.
Follow Channels and Categories