Nicole, a 27-year-old mother of four, had worked at the counter of a Tim Hortons doughnut shop forthree years. One day she was seen giving a Timbit to a crying child who came into the shop with aregularcustomer.Whenthe managerof thestoreconfrontedher aboutit,Nicolereadilyadmitted

giving the Timbit away without paying for it. She was aware that this was against the employer's policybut she had been busy at the time and did not go to her purse to get the 16 cents at the time. Also,knowing that day-old Timbits were given away to small children in the store regularly, she expected toget a reprimand at most. However, the manager fired her on the spot. Nicole was so upset that shecalled her local newspaper when she got home and her firing became headline news. (A day later theowner of the franchise called and offered Nicole a job at another of his franchises.) Given the mediaattention the story garnered, it is clear that in the "court of public opinion" the employer did not havejust cause to dismiss Nicole.

Q1) did the employer have just cause under the common law?

Q2)Explainyour answer by referring to the principles upon which just cause dismissal of non-union employees isbased.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 No the employer likely did not have just cause under the common law to dismiss Nicole for the following reasons Severity of misconduct While taking ... View the full answer