Determination Of Reasonable Notice Is Not Appropriate For Summary Judgment, Alberta Court Determines

In Coffey v Nine Energy Canada Inc., 2018 ABQB 898, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench confirmed the master's decision that summary judgment was inappropriate for the assessment of damages for pay in lieu of reasonable notice for wrongful dismissal.

Summary Judgment

A summary judgment application is a procedural tool that allows for a shortened and expeditious decision to be made on a case, without the normal length and costs associated with a full trial process.

In a typical wrongful dismissal case, the main issue between the employee and the employer is the determination how much, if any, pay in lieu of notice of termination is owed. Generally, if an employer fails to provide reasonable working notice of termination, an employee is entitled to pay in lieu of reasonable notice under the common law. Employers can contract out of the common law reasonable notice period with a clear and unambiguous termination clause. The reasonable notice period is determined on a case-by-case basis, using a well-recognized set of factors from Bardal v Globe and Mail Ltd. (the "Bardal Factors"). These factors include, the character of the employment, length of service, age, availability of similar employment, and the experience, training and qualifications of the employee.

Alberta masters are at odds with whether or not summary judgment is appropriate for the assessment of a reasonable notice period.1 This issue was the central issue in Coffey v Nine Energy Canada Inc., 2017 ABQB 417 - whether or not assessment of a reasonable notice period is appropriate for summary judgment.

Master's Decision

The Plaintiff had been employed by the Defendant employer for six and half years when he was terminated without cause. The Plaintiff sought summary judgment against the Defendant for wrongful dismissal seeking 12 months' pay in lieu of reasonable notice.

Master Farrington reviewed the jurisdiction of the Master under section 9(3) of the Court of Queen's Bench Act and summary judgment procedure under rule 7.3 of the Alberta Rules of Court. Master Farrington concluded that the assessment of a reasonable notice period was not appropriate in a summary judgment application and dismissed the Plaintiff's application. In reaching his conclusion, Master Farrington provided the following reasons:

While the Ontario rule under consideration in the Supreme Court of Canada's decision of Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 permits the weighing of evidence, Alberta's summary judgment rule...