Monkhouse Law Employment Lawyers represent employees and independent contractors in employment law disputes involving wrongful dismissal, bonuses and compensation, termination clauses, employer counterclaims, workplace rights, and employment class actions.
Our Track Record: Reported Employment Law Decisions
Monkhouse Law lawyers have over 100 reported decisions before judges, and since 2013 have taken more employment law cases to trial, and more to the Ontario Court of Appeal, than any other firm in Ontario. Selected reported decisions include:
Notable Employment Law Cases at a Glance
- Ruston v. Keddco Mfg. (2011) Ltd., 2019 ONCA 125: Court of Appeal upheld a trial award of 19 months’ notice, full bonus, and $125,000 in punitive and moral damages for an 11-year company president facing a $1.7 million counterclaim, plus $546,684.73 in trial costs, the largest reported costs award to a wrongfully dismissed employee, and a further $35,000 in appeal costs.
- Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc., 2016 ONCA 618: Court of Appeal awarded a 14-year employee an additional $58,386.64 in bonus on top of 17 months’ pay in lieu of notice.
- Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., 2021 ONSC 7546 (Div. Ct.): Employee terminated while pregnant after four months of employment awarded eight months’ notice, upheld on appeal.
- Kurt v. Idera Inc., 2016 ONSC 3799 (Div. Ct.): Constructive dismissal appeal allowed and new hearing ordered.
- Menard v. The Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2019 ONSC 2467 (costs): Trial award of 12 months’ notice to a six-year Vice President of Finance despite an alleged cause defence and a limiting contract clause, with $175,000 in costs.
- Tan v. Stostac Inc., 2023 ONSC 2121: Trial decision invalidating a notice-reduction clause and awarding seven months’ notice with no CERB deduction.
- Giduturi v. LG Electronics Canada Inc.: Trial decision awarding 12 months’ notice and rejecting a failure-to-mitigate defence.
- Gracias v. Dr. David Walt Dentistry, 2022 ONSC 2967: Trial decision invalidating the termination clause and awarding three months’ notice to a six-month employee.
- Singh v. Qualified Metal Fabricators (2016): Trial decision invalidating a limiting termination clause and awarding one month per year of service.
- Joshi v. Allstate, 2019 ONSC 4382: Employer’s $700,000 counterclaim against a dismissed employee dismissed.
Employment Class Actions
Monkhouse Law lawyers have also acted in certified employment class actions for unpaid vacation and holiday pay, overtime, and misclassification, including Sondhi v. Deloitte Management Services LP, Curtis v. Medcan Health Management Inc., 2022 ONSC 5176, Singh v. RBC Insurance Agency Ltd., 2023 ONSC 1439, Lee v. Allstate Insurance, 2023 ONSC 8, Cheetham v. Bank of Montreal, 2023 BCSC 1319 (certification upheld, Bank of Montreal v. C., 2025 BCCA 374), Navartnarajah v. FSB Group Ltd., 2021 ONSC 5418 (severance and termination pay certified as a class action), Rallis v. Approval Team Inc., 2020 ONSC 4197, and Morris v. Solar Brokers, 2019 ONSC 6817. Learn more about our current employee class actions and settled employee class actions.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every employment matter depends on its own facts and applicable law.
The decisions below provide additional examples of Monkhouse Law’s employment litigation experience and the legal issues our lawyers have addressed on behalf of employees.
Andrew Monkhouse Employment Law Cases
Successful Wrongful Dismissal Case – M. v. The Centre for International Governance Innovation: Trial Decision: Andrew represented a 6 year Vice President Finance who was terminated and his employer claimed after acquired cause based on breach of policy. The company dropped their counterclaim before trial and at trial, the Executive received 2 months per year of service, for a total of 12 months notice notwithstanding the alleged cause or a claim that the contract limited his notice period to 12 weeks. Costs Decision: (2019 CarswellOnt 8241, 2019 ONSC 2467) Monkhouse Law was awarded costs on a substantial basis in the amount of $175,000 to cover fees relating to prosecuting the case.
Certification of Employee Misclassification Class Action – S. v. Deloitte Management Services LP: Class Action Certification: In a two-part certification process (see part one) Monkhouse Law and co-counsel Landy Marr Kats LLP certified a document reviewer class action relating to overtime, vacation and statutory holiday pay for legal document reviewers at Deloitte. Justice Perell recognizes Monkhouse law’s expertise in Employment Law regarding the suitability for certification. Class counsel was awarded $353,790.88 for their work on the certification hearing.
Successful Wrongful Dismissal Case – H. v. Hatch Ltd.: Summary Judgment Decision: Andrew increased the notice period from the 25.5 weeks offered to 18 months (77.4 weeks) for a Project Manager and Senior Water Resources Engineer. The award is more than triple the severance offered by defeating a complicated severance provision which attempted to limit the employee’s notice.
Successful Trial Decision – P. v. TeraGo Networks Inc.: In this case, the Plaintiff was dismissed without cause by the Defendant and brought a summary judgment motion in his wrongful dismissal action. Paquette was employed for 14 years and 4 months and earned an annual salary of $150,000.00. Andrew was able to get his client 17 months’ of pay in lieu of notice, damages of $163,267.90 for his salary as well as for lost benefits.
Successful Appeal in Constructive Dismissal Case – K. v. Idera Inc.: Divisional Appeal Court: In this case, Andrew successfully argued Divisional Court of Appeal regarding a constructive dismissal matter. On Appeal, the Court found that the motion judged erred in law, and the matter was ordered back for a new summary judgment hearing.
Successful Wrongful Dismissal and Termination Clause Case – S. v. Qualified Metal Fabricators: Trial Decision (2016 CarswellOnt 8795, 267 A.C.W.S. (3d) 867). At trial, Andrew successfully argued that the contract which attempted to limit the employee to minimum notice was invalid and got his client a month’s pay per year of service. Based on an internal survey of cases at least one-quarter of all employment contracts are invalid based on the logic utilized in Singh. After a successful trial, the judge awarded significant costs against the Defendant covering the Employee’s legal fees so that he was able to keep his entire severance (2016 CarswellOnt 8796, 267 A.C.W.S. (3d) 787).
Successful With Cause Dismissal Case – Summary Judgement A. v. 975866 Ontario Ltd.: Monkhouse Law successfully argued that a summary judgment motion was appropriate where the employee was terminated with just cause. The Defendant relied on the company handbook to limit the reasonable notice period. However, Andrew won the argument that the handbook was not a contract of employment.
Successful Enforcement of Settlement – Z. v. Totally Zing Inc.(2016 CarswellOnt 17956). The Defendant company settled but then denied there was a settlement and refused to pay. Andrew went to Court to enforce the settlement, resulting in the Court enforcing the settlement, plus legal fees for the enforcement.
Successful Cost Award in Wrongful Dismissal Case – M. v Toronto District School Board: Prior to the commencement of a hearing in a wrongful dismissal matter involving a dispute on if the employee was an independent contractor or not, the Plaintiff accepted a settlement offer, plus costs to be assessed if not agreed by the parties. The costs were not agreed to and in this decision on the matter, Andrew successfully obtained his client costs in the amount of $40,000.00 to cover his client’s costs.
Successful Preliminary Motions – H. v. Kleiman: Andrew was on counsel on several complex motions before a Master to limit the scope of trial. Because of the preliminary result, the Defendant conceded right after the release of the decision by accepting the Plaintiff’s previous offer.
OLR Arbitration – J. v. Core One: Andrew was on counsel on a labour arbitration before the Ontario Labour Relations Board representing an employer. This was a preliminary decision allowing the employer to advance their arguments for after acquired cause and also that the initial termination was a justified layoff.
$15,000 Settlement Leads to $30,000 Cost Award – In J. v. Dr . Zia Medicine PC ( Ct file # CV-20-00646993) Justice Myers had a situation where the Plaintiff accepted the Defendants Rule 49 Offer of $15,000 plus costs to be assessed. The parties could not agree on costs. The Court awarded the Plaintiff $30,000 in costs.
Andrew Monkhouse and Alexandra Monkhouse Employment Law Cases
Certification Upheld for Vacation and Holiday Pay Class Action – Bank of Montreal v. C., 2025 BCCA 374 (Oct 31, 2025). The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the certification of a national class action on breach-of-contract issues over statutory vacation and holiday pay for Private Wealth Consultants (PWCs) and Mortgage Specialists. Alexandra Monkhouse and Andrew Monkhouse were co-counsel for the plaintiff respondent.
Certified Class Action for Vacation and Holiday Pay – S. v. RBC Insurance Agency Ltd., 2023 ONSC 1439 (CanLII) and S. v. RBC Insurance Agency Ltd., 2023 ONSC 6721 (CanLII) – Certified class action for vacation and holiday pay for P&C Advisors against Aviva General Insurance and RBC Insurance Agency
Certified Vacation and Holiday Pay Class Action – C. v. Bank of Montreal, 2023 BCSC 1319 (CanLII): Certified vacation and holiday pay class action against the Bank of Montreal for Propriety and Wealth Consultants and Mortgage Specialists.
Certified Class Action for Vacation and Holiday Pay – L. v. Allstate Insurance, 2023 ONSC 8 (CanLII): Certified class action for vacation and holiday pay on Agency Performance Bonuses for Business Development Agents in Ontario
Certification of Class Action for Vacation and Holiday Pay – C. v. Medcan Health Management Inc., 2022 ONSC 5176: Andrew and Alexandra Monkhouse represented the plaintiffs in a proposed class action for vacation and statutory holiday pay on commissions that was certified by the Ontario Superior Court.
Certification of Misclassification Class Action – N. v. FSB Group Ltd., 2021 ONSC 5418 (CanLII): Certification Decision: Andrew was co-counsel with Alexandra Monkhouse on this class action certification decision on claimed misclassification of workers as contractors. The case is groundbreaking for certifying severance and termination pay in a class action.
Certification of Employee Misclassification Class Action – R. v. Approval Team Inc., 2020 ONSC 4197 (CanLII): Certification Motion: Andrew was co-counsel with Alexandra Monkhouse in certifying a case before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice regarding a class action for misclassification against Approval Team for their alleged misclassification of workers.
Intervention at the Supreme Court: Uber Technologies Inc. v. H., 2020 SCC 16 (CanLII): Alexandra represented Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) as an intervenor at the Supreme Court on this matter speaking to why employees ought to not be held to arbitration clauses.. In the end the employee was successful at the Supreme Court.
Certification of Employee Misclassification Class Action – M. v. Solar Brokers, 2019 ONSC 6817 (CanLII): Andrew was co-counsel with Alexandra Monkhouse certifying a class action on behalf of workers who were called contractors working for a solar panel sales firm operating out of Ontario and Alberta. Monkhouse Law was successful in certifying the claim.
Successful Anti-SLAPP Motion – J. v. Allstate, 2019 ONSC 4382: Motion: Andrew was co-counsel with Alexandra and represented an employee against her past employer dismissing their counterclaim for $700,000 which was found by Justice Kimmel to be an infringement on her rights of expression. The claim was dismissed against the employee and the company was required to pay almost $100,000 in Monkhouse Law’s legal fees.
Oppression and Misrepresentation Claims Allowed to Proceed – L. v. Dealer Methods Inc., 2025 ONSC
The Ontario Superior Court dismissed a motion to strike, allowing an employee’s personal claims against the company’s shareholder-officers to proceed under the oppression remedy and for alleged misrepresentation inducing employment.
Andrew Monkhouse and Samantha Lucifora Employment Law Cases
Wrongful Dismissal of Executive – B. v. Microsoft Canada Inc., 2020 ONSC 4286 (CanLII): Trial Decision: Andrew was co-counsel with Samantha Lucifora in this trial which found that the notice plan Microsoft used to inform their employee about share plan limitations were invalid thus granting the employee the shares (RSU’s) in question. The employee also received 24 months notice and bonuses throughout his notice period. Andrew was later successful in having the court award $120,000 to cover legal fees associated with the claim.
Successful Court of Appeal Decision Wrongful Dismissal of Executive – R. v. Keddco: Monkhouse Law represented the terminated employee at the Court of Appeal. The Court denied all appeal attempts and awarded an additional $35,000 to cover the employee’s legal fees.
Successful Trial Decision Wrongful Dismissal for Executive – R. v. Keddco: Andrew represented an 11 year President of the company who was terminated by the owners after accusations of fraud. After an 11 day trial, the $1.7 Million dollar fraud claim was found to be entirely without merit, and the President was awarded a long notice period (19 months), his full bonus during the notice period, and $125,000 in damages between punitive and moral damages for the behaviour and tactics of the Defendant.
Half a Million Dollars Awarded in Costs For Wrongfully Dismissed Executive – R. v. Keddco: Costs Decision: Monkhouse law was awarded the full amount requested for legal fees in the this case, being $546,684.73, which is the largest amount of costs awarded to a wrongfully terminated employee that has been reported. The trial judge commented on how prepared Monkhouse Law was at the trial in awarding that amount.
Successful Ontario Court of Appeal Decision for Wrongful Dismissal – P. v. TeraGo Networks Inc.: Ontario Court of Appeal Decision: As the trial judge denied the Plaintiff his bonus Monkhouse Law appealed the case successfully to the Court of Appeal, which ruled that employees are owed bonuses during their notice periods. With Andrew’s assistance, the employee received an additional $58,386.64 in bonus, plus a contribution to legal fees. This decision set an important precedent for employment law in Canada for bonuses during notice periods.
Successful Wrongful Dismissal Case – J. v. Best Buy Canada: Andrew and Samantha won the case without calling a single witness by bringing a summary judgment motion. He assisted an employee terminated for cause in his claim against Best Buy and was fully successful in proving wrongful dismissal.
Andrew Monkhouse and Miguel Mangalindan Employment Law Cases
C. and Bank of Nova Scotia, Re: Canada Adjudication (Canada Labour Code Part III) Decision (2017 CarswellNat 3170): Andrew and Miguel were succesful in a CLC adjudication in which the Defendant employer was found not to have discharged the onus of establishing that the actual, operative and dominant reason for the termination of the client’s employment was either ‘lack of work’ or the ‘discontinuance of a function’. As a result, the preliminary objection by the Defendant employer failed and the adjudication was allowed to continue on its merits.
Andrew Monkhouse and Reshida Darrell Employment Law Case
In Certified Equipment Sales v. I., 2024 ONSC 2948 Andrew and Reshida successfully showed that excessive demands for particulars can backfire.
Miguel Mangalindan Employment Law Cases
Successfully Defeated Motion to Stay Wrongful Dismissal Action – K. v. Cascades Recovery Plus, 2021 ONSC 3225 (CanLII): Miguel was successful in resisting a motion to stay a lawsuit because the employee could have been subject to a collective agreement but was not paying union dues.
Successful in Expediting LTD Case – M. v Blue Cross Life Insurance Co. 2019 ONSC 6611 (CanLII): Miguel was successful in striking a jury notice for his client before Justice Morgan on a long term disability case in order to expedite going to trial.
Successful Costs Award in Wrongful Dismissal Case – W. v. Jobstart, 2019 ONSC 2722 (CanLII): Miguel represented his client in a wrongful dismissal action and then received 150% of the settlement amount to cover legal fees of the claim.
Other Monkhouse Law Case Wins
Employer Has To Pay For Cancelled Employment Contract – K. v. BT Express Freight Systems
Decision: Monkhouse Law was successful in obtaining damages for an employee whose offer of employment was rescinded. Read more about the case >
Wrongful Dismissal of Pregnant Employee – N. v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., 2021 ONSC 1455: Trial Decision: Monkhouse Law represented a client with 4.5 months of seniority at trial after she was terminated. The client was pregnant at the time of termination and Monkhouse Law was able to have the judge recognize this ground as elongating the notice period, getting 5 months of severance for the employee plus money for benefits lost. Monkhouse Law was later successful in having the judge award $22,000 to cover the client’s legal fees.
Unjust Dismissal Case Won For Bank Employee – M. and Bank of Montreal Re: 2019 CarswellNat 4762 (Westlaw): Monkhouse Law was counsel in the case of a dismissed Bank employee. In the first hearing the adjudicator rejected the bank’s argument that it was a legitimate layoff and in the second decision (2020 CarswellNat 2661) the adjudicator awarded the 18 year employee 22 months notice plus legal fees. The employee was also reinstated into his position and went back to the bank. In a subsequent decision, the adjudicator awarded over $65,000 in order to cover the employee’s legal fees for the hearing.
Successful Unjust Dismissal and Reinstatement of Bank Employee – P.D. and Bank of Nova Scotia: 2019 CarswellNat 2340 (Westlaw): Monkhouse Law was counsel in the case of a bank employee accused of theft and dishonesty. The Adjudicator under the appointed to hear the case, found that the allegations of theft were not proven by the Bank. The employee was reinstated to her position with full back pay, awarded $5,000 in moral damages and her legal costs. In a second decision (2020 CarswellNat 640) costs were awarded at over $90,000 to cover the employee’s legal fees.
Successful Wrongful Dismissal and Termination Clause Case – O. v Crystal Claire Cosmetics Inc. 2021 ONSC 1428: Monkhouse Law represented an employee terminated from their job without adequate notice. Monkhouse Law successfully argued that the employee’s termination provision did not limit his notice and the 10 month service employee received 3 months notice. Read more about the case >>
Speak With an Employment Lawyer
Every employment matter is different, and the outcome of a case depends on the facts, the applicable law, and the circumstances of the employee and employer. The decisions above illustrate some of the employment law issues Monkhouse Law lawyers have handled, but past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
If you have been terminated, received a severance package, or are dealing with another workplace issue, Monkhouse Law can help you understand your legal rights and options. We represent non-unionized employees and independent contractors in Toronto and throughout Ontario.