In Adrain v Agricom International Inc (2025 BCSC 1842), the plaintiff employee commenced a lawsuit against her employer during the working notice period. The BC court considered two questions: first, whether the employee’s actions leading up to the filing of the lawsuit constituted just cause for dismissal; and second, whether these actions amounted to a repudiation of the employment contract.
The Facts:
The employee worked at Agricom for 30 years and by 2025, was the only employee of the company, other than its president (i.e her employer). In April 2025, the employer called the plaintiff in for a meeting where he informed her that he was looking to retire and no longer wished to continue operations of the company. The employer presented the plaintiff with two options: 1) to acquire the business for the nominal value of $1 and take over operations, or 2) accept that her employment would be terminated after the business was wound down.
This meeting prompted the employee to send two demand letters to the employer setting out her legal positions in relation to her pending termination – including asking for approximately $200,000 in severance pay. When the employer did not reply, the employee went on to file a civil claim against the employer for wrongful dismissal. At this point, the employer claimed that the employee had repudiated the employment contract and engaged in conduct which amounted to just cause for dismissal. Accordingly, the employment was terminated.
The Decision
The Court found that the act of sending legal demand letters and commencing the wrongful dismissal claim did not amount to just cause for dismissal – however, doing so during the working notice period did amount to a repudiation of the employee’s employment contract. This meant that while the employee was entitled to receive damages in this case, those damages would be reduced to reflect the notice period that the employee would have worked had she not repudiated her employment. Thus, the damages were calculated as follows: While the employee was originally entitled to 24 months’ notice and the employer had only provided her with 13 months’ notice before terminating her employment, the employee had only worked for 1.5 months of those 13 months before repudiating her contract. This meant that the employee failed to work through 11.5 months of her actual notice period. These 11.5 months deducted from the twenty-four (24) month notice period that applied.
Takeaways and Impact
This case is important because it shows that regardless of whether an employee has been wrongfully dismissed, commencing a lawsuit against the employer during the working notice period can trigger a finding that the employee repudiated their contract. This can impact the amount of damages that an employee may be entitled to in a wrongful dismissal case.
PooranLaw will continue to monitor ongoing case law that may affect our clients and the broader human services sector. If you require legal guidance or support please reach out to your regular PooranLaw lawyer or a member of our team.
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