Can an employee sue both the vendor and the purchaser of a business for wrongful dismissal?
In a recent case the B.C. Court of Appeal confirmed that an employee can sue both the Vendor and Purchaser of a business for wrongful dismissal where he/she has been dismissed after the sale of the business. Specifically, the law is: • The sale of a business (assets) terminates the employment contract between the Vendor and its employees. As such the Vendor is required to provide its employees with notice or payment in lieu of (“Notice”); • If the Vendor does not provide Notice, the employee is offered the same position on the same terms by the Purchaser and the employee rejects the offer for no good reason and sues the vendor for wrongful dismissal, the employee will be found to have not mitigated his/her damages and any Notice owed by the Vendor will be reduced or obviated; • There is an implied term in the employment contracts between the Purchaser and the employees continuing in the service of the business that they will be given credit for their past service with the Vendor for pu
