B.C. Court Awards Aggravated and Punitive Damages Following Termination
August 20, 2026
The British Columbia Supreme Court awarded aggravated and punitive damages after finding the employer breached its duty of good faith dealing with the plaintiff in the manner of her termination, which caused her to start drawing her pension early.
The plaintiff had worked for the province for approximately 30 years and was terminated without cause in 2017 following her involvement in a high-profile government controversy. She alleged that she was treated unfairly, and that she was terminated in bad faith and for political gain.
A key issue in the case was the province's decision to withhold the plaintiff’s severance payment for approximately 15 months unless she signed a release. The Court held that, once severance had been offered, the plaintiff should not have been required to sign a release before receiving payment.
The plaintiff sought damages for pension loss as part of her general damages claim. She alleged that, because her severance payment was delayed by 15 months, she was required to begin drawing her pension early, resulting in an alleged annual pension reduction of $13,176.
The Court denied general damages due insufficient expert evidence quantifying her pension loss and that pension contributions were not included in the statutory severance scheme. However, the Court considered the delayed severance payment, which led the plaintiff to draw her pension early, relevant to aggravated and punitive damages.
The Court held that an award of $50,000 for aggravated damages was appropriate with consideration to the highly public nature of the plaintiff’s termination. The Court stated that the manner in which the employer sought to politically benefit from the termination was worthy of denunciation and warranted an award of $200,000 in punitive damages to punish the “egregious behavior”.
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