A legal fight over an unpaid signing bonus and an allegedly missing work laptop had an interesting result at the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
The fight was between an employee and an environmental consulting firm, and the firm countersued the staff member.
According to the employee, the firm failed to pay them an agreed-upon $1,000 signing bonus. In defence, the employer said the employee never performed billable work, so they weren’t entitled to the signing bonus.
In its counterclaim, the employer alleged that the employee failed to return a company laptop and claimed $1,240.70 in damages. After the case was decided, the employee actually owed the employer money. Here’s how the tribunal came to that conclusion.
- You might also like:
- BC strata ordered to pay thousands for repairs it felt it wasn't responsible for
- BC strata forced to lower "unreasonable" move-in fees after dispute
- Unclean and full of jerks: BC woman takes fight with gym to court
The employee was hired in July 2023 and, in contract negotiations, was offered $1,000 as a signing bonus.
In the decision, the tribunal states that the employee was “scheduled to start work on August 8, and the letter said he was entitled to ‘a sign-on bonus of amount $1,000.00′”
The only other stipulation was that if the employer decided to resign, they needed to provide two weeks’ notice.
According to the employer, the employee only worked three days of non-billable hours and failed to show up for their first billable shift on August 13. The employee states he quit because he was offered a position by a different employer.
The tribunal preferred the employer’s version of events but concluded that the employee was entitled to the signing bonus.
“I find there were no conditions on the signing bonus’s payment,” the tribunal said.
The employer was ordered to pay the $1,000 signing bonus. However, that was offset for the following reasons.
On August 8, the employer provided the employee with a Dell laptop. While the employee claimed they returned the laptop, the employer said they never received it. The employer was also in the middle of an office move, leading to the employee claiming that the laptop must’ve been lost during the move.
“Triton says it never received the laptop and provided IT records showing that specific laptop was last used on August 23, which would have required Mr. Benrabah’s secret personal password to access,” the tribunal decision said.
All of the evidence in this BC legal fight was in the employer’s favour, so the tribunal ordered the employee to pay the cost of the laptop.
After all was said and done, the employee owed the employer $254.15 in damages, including tribunal fees.
Read the full decision here.