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Pension Benefits and Wrongful Dismissal Damages: Double Recovery or Double Jeopardy Workplace Pensions: Next Generation or Final Frontier

Resource type
Author/contributor
Title
Pension Benefits and Wrongful Dismissal Damages: Double Recovery or Double Jeopardy Workplace Pensions: Next Generation or Final Frontier
Abstract
In the Waterman case, the Supreme Court of Canada decided - at least with respect to the defined benefit pension plan under review - that pension benefits received by a wrongfully dismissed employee during the reasonable notice period are not deductible from any severance pay in lieu of reasonable notice that is otherwise payable. A majority of the Court held that the pen- sion benefits constituted a form of deferred compensation that was not intended to indemnify against income loss due to a wrongful dismissal, while the min- ority maintained that pension benefits received during the notice period must be deducted to prevent the dismissed employee from obtaining an undeserved windfall. In this article, the author reviews the law relating to the deductibility of various benefit payments from wrongful dismissal damages. In his view, the Waterman majority judgment does not provide wrongfully dismissed employees with an improper windfall, and there is no principled reason why pension bene- fits should be deducted from a damages award and thereby placed on a separate footing from other benefits that are components of an employee's overall com- pensation package.
Publication
Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
171-200
Date
2015-2016
Journal Abbr
Canadian Lab. & Emp. L.J.
Language
English
Short Title
Pension Benefits and Wrongful Dismissal Damages
Citation
Thornicroft, K. Wm. (2015). Pension Benefits and Wrongful Dismissal Damages: Double Recovery or Double Jeopardy Workplace Pensions: Next Generation or Final Frontier. Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 19(1), 171–200.