TORONTO - Business owners may have to think twice about the way they handle employee layoffs in the wake of a recent legal decision to award one former employee $15,000. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld that Iole Prinzo was entitled to the damages she was originally awarded for mental suffering and failure to give proper notice for termination of employment.

The original decision to award Prinzo both damages in lost wages and $15,000 for mental suffering was taken to the Ontario Court of Appeals. There Judge Karen Weiler upheld the award for mental suffering. The original decision to pay Prinzo 18 months in severance pay was reduced to 12.

What makes this case unique is the award for mental anguish. Prinzo, the former beauty shop manager for Baycrest Centre of Geriatric Care, was harassed by colleagues after a nasty fall in the parking lot led to a broken arm. Her employer even went as far as to order her back to work, stating that they had spoke with her doctor who had said that she was fine when no such thing had actually happened.

Under Weiler's interpretation of the law mental suffering is committed where there is: "(1) flagrant or outrageous conduct; (2) calculated to produce harm; and (3) resulting in a visible and provable illness."

For more information, visit http://www.lancasterhouse.com/decisions/2002/jul/oca-prinzo.htm.

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