How long does a wrongful dismissal lawsuit in Ontario take?
Depends on the lawyers, the complexity of the case, and the local Court schedule. The Simplified Rules changed at the start of the year. Until this year, there were *no* examinations for discovery under Simplified Rules. So it’s kind of unexplored terrain… But here’s a sense of the timeframe: The plaintiff starts by issuing the Statement of Claim with the Court. He then has six months to serve the Defendant(s) with the Claim. Frequently, in a wrongful dismissal, this will be done immediately. The Defendant then has thirty days to serve and file a Defence. (Well, twenty by default, but this is extended by service of a Notice of Intent to Defend…which, in practice, will almost always be served.) So there’s a month passed right there. Then, there’s a further period of time (ten days, I believe) that the plaintiff has to Reply. So we’re talking about six weeks or so to the close of pleadings. It used to be, under the old Rules, that an affidavit of documents (a list of all arguably rel
