On April 21, 2011, Karla started working as a cook at McDonalds. Karlas salary started at $8.75 per hour (then the minimum wage in BC), and by 2021 had reached $15.20 per hour (also basically minimum wage). Over Karlas 10 years at McDonalds, she was a generally good employee, always showing up on time and working hard. Her managers thought she was a bit slow to learn new things, but she always put in a good effort. Yesterday (April 21, 2021), Karla asked her manager if she could have a sandwich from the restaurant at the end of her shift.

The manager said that she could not- she could only have a drink. Karla was very hungry, and noticed a sandwich that would have to be thrown away rather than sold to a customer because it had been sitting for too long. Karla took the sandwich and ate it as she was walking to the bus stop. Karlas boss noticed on video that she had taken the sandwich. When Karla came to work today, she was fired. Youre not working here any more. Take your belongings and go home. You stole from your employer, we are firing you and not paying you anything after today, her manager told her. But what am I going to do? How can I pay rent, Karla asked. Not my problem, was her managers reply. Karla is 55 years old, and immigrated to Canada 12 years ago. She did not finish high school in her home country, and has very limited English, especially reading skills. Many restaurants- even fast food restaurants such as McDonalds are not hiring new staff these days due to the Covid 19 pandemic. When Karla started working at McDonalds 10 years ago, there was no termination clause in her contract.

Karla decided to hire a lawyer and sue McDonalds for wrongful dismissal. Will Karla be successful? IRAC