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Situation:
Lucille was a model employee throughout her 25-year career at an automotive manufacturer. She worked her way up from payroll clerk to Vice President of Marketing and received continual praise from senior management.
At 51 years of age, Lucille lost her job when a foreign conglomerate purchased the company. She was told her position was being consolidated with the American operations and that her skills and abilities were no longer wanted by the new company.
Upon her termination, Lucille was offered 6 months salary and asked to sign a release that stated, upon acceptance of the money offered to her, she would absolve the company of any further liability or damages.
At the time of her dismissal, Lucille was earning $107,000 per year.
Solution:
Lucille decided to seek legal advice from a lawyer that specialized in employment law.
Even though her former employer had no reason or cause to dismiss her employment, she could not be reinstated. Lucille was surprised to learn that only under very limited circumstances can employees not represented by a Trade Union get their job back.
However, if the matter went to court she could receive as much as two years of salary as compensation for the loss of her employment.
Lucille learned that some of the factors the courts utilize to determine the compensation she may be entitled to are:
- The prospect of finding another job equivalent to her previous job
- How long she was employed at her previous job
- Her age at the time of dismissal
- How was she treated when she was dismissed
To mitigate her damages, Lucille was informed that she needed to start looking for another job that was comparable in salary and responsibilities to her former position
Courts look at whether wrongful dismissal claimants try to find alternative employment in order to replace the income they lost. If Lucille's case goes to trial and she receives an order from the court for compensation for the loss of her employment, then any income that she receives from employment could be deducted from this total compensation she receives. However, if Lucille does not even try to find another job, a court may still deduct an amount from the compensation she receives because she failed to "mitigate her damages."
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