British Columbia v. Taylor, 2024 BCCA 44 is an important decision concerning the developing role of good faith in employment relationships. The case arose from a wrongful dismissal claim brought by Wendy-Lou Taylor, a long-serving provincial employee who alleged that the Province had treated her unfairly during her employment and in connection with her 2017 termination.
In this case, Ms. Taylor alleged that the Province’s conduct surrounding a 2012 Ministry of Health investigation was connected to her eventual dismissal. Among other things, she alleged that the Province incorrectly identified her as the lead investigator and failed to support her while the investigation attracted significant public attention. She was later terminated without cause in June 2017.
The Province sought to strike the allegations concerning bad faith, arguing that the duty of good faith in the manner of dismissal should be concerned with the employer’s conduct at or around the time of termination. The British Columbia Supreme Court declined to strike the claims, and the Province appealed.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. It emphasized that the law concerning good faith in employment is still developing, and that, at the pleading stage, courts should be cautious about preventing potentially viable novel claims from proceeding. The Court noted that the “manner of dismissal” may, in some cases, span a period of years before or after the moment of dismissal, including in a without-cause termination.
The decision does not establish a general, freestanding cause of action for every allegation of bad faith during employment. Nor did the Court decide that Ms. Taylor had proved a breach of a duty of good faith. Rather, it held that her claim was sufficiently arguable that it could not be said at the pleading stage that the claim was bound to fail, and that the issues should be determined on a full evidentiary record.
Relying on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions, the Court of Appeal emphasizing that the law should develop incrementally. In the context of a preliminary application to strike pleadings, the Court held that novel but arguable claims should be read generously where the developing state of the law means that the claim cannot be said to be bound to fail.
For employers, the practical lesson is straightforward. Good-faith considerations should not be treated as relevant only on the day an employee is dismissed. Workplace decisions, investigations, communications, representations, and the treatment of employees over the course of an employment relationship can potentially become relevant to a later claim. Taylor therefore signals that employer conduct throughout the employment relationship may become relevant to an arguable good-faith claim, while leaving the precise scope of any broader duty to be determined as the law develops.
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