Pietro Saladini was a “star” employee. He rarely missed work and did whatever he could to please his employer, auto parts manufacturer Affinia Canada Corp.  However, Saladini’s remarkable dedication to his job also made him a target.

As a midnight shift supervisor, Saladini seldom saw his family. But, his hard work paid off when Affinia finally promoted him to a supervisor on the company’s daytime shift.  

Saladini figured he was set with what he referred to as the “golden shift” at work. But soon after, Affinia needed to fill a void when business picked up and, instead of hiring an extra employee to take on some of the overflow in work, the company figured that Saladini would do the job, without protest.  
Saladini was summoned to a meeting with his boss and told that his shift schedule would change and, along with it, he would now be given more work without a corresponding increase in pay.  

Although Saladini initially agreed, his loyalty soon morphed into anger, believing that he was being exploited by the company for having worked so hard before.  

Saladini spoke with his boss stating that he did not want his shift to change but he was quickly told that he did not have a choice. He could either report to the new shift, or the company would view him as having resigned. When Saladini refused to agree, he was told to hand in his keys and escorted out of work.  However, Saladini was not going to go quietly this time.  

Believing that the ultimatum to take the new shift or resign was tantamount to a dismissal, he sued Affinia for wrongful dismissal, and recently he won!

Canadian courts are loath to uphold resignations proffered under circumstances of pressure or an ultimatum and instead will usually find that the employee had been fired.  Here, when Saladini’s boss told him that he must either take the job or resign, he was effectively terminated, according to the judge, who noted that Saladini was told to hand in his keys and leave, which is far more consistent with a dismissal than a resignation. A true resignation in a voluntary action

Daniel A. Lublin is an employment lawyer with Whitten & Lublin
LLP.  Reach him at dan@toronto-employmentlawyer.com. Follow him on
Twitter @danlublin.