What is the test for dismissing an employee for gross misconduct?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Storms v. Quist, 2010 ONSC 638 (CanLII):

While the reason for the original suspicion of the Appellant may have been to find reasons to remove her from the office to resolve staffing issues and to suit the Respondent’s business interests, I find that once the issue was raised, the trial judge found that the investigation by the Respondent revealed a proper basis for the dismissal. Following the reasoning in McKinley v. B.C. Tel [2001] S.C.R. 161 (S.C.C.), a balance must be struck between the severity of an employee’s misconduct and the sanction imposed.

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