Received a Wrongful Dismissal Lawsuit? What to Do Next

Small businesses strive to avoid lawsuits at best as these can hurt finances and reputation. As a business owner, you do everything to ensure your employees are happy. But, in spite of your best efforts, there comes a time when you have to let go of an employee. Parting ways is never fun, but you can do it right. If you don’t, chances are, you’ll hear from the person you fired in the form of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

The term says it all—wrongful. It means your former employee is alleging you didn’t have just cause or you didn’t bother to notify. Beyond the resentment you feel from such an accusation, you shouldn’t let your emotions run high. What you need is a definite course of action to face the lawsuit and navigate through it with minimal expenses and as minor damage to your brand as possible.

Next Steps

You’re probably wondering what to do next with the letter in your hand. Should you directly call your former employee or arrange a meeting with his lawyers? Do you need to involve HR to check on the employee’s files? Do you compose a response at once, or should you wait and think it over?

Responding to a wrongful dismissal lawsuit can be summed in seven steps as you take a stand against the allegations:

1. Consult a Lawyer

Legal matters require legal experts. You’ll need a business lawyer who specializes in employment law to assess your former worker’s claims. If your business doesn’t have one, you can contact your insurance company and ask if your policy covers legal assistance and fees.

Sites such as wrongfuldismissal.ca provide professional assistance for small businesses facing these lawsuits. They can identify the merits of the case and forge a factual reply against allegations of discrimination and human rights violations. They can even justify the inclusion or denial of severance benefits.

2. Comply with Deadlines 

Once you receive the notice, you’re given 30 days to respond to the allegations of your former employee. Take this time to review the claims with your business lawyer and craft a response to refute their claims. File within the prescribed period to minimize business disruptions and help you reduce your lawsuit expenses. When you ignore deadlines, it’ll become costly on your part as you’ll end up paying additional for the opposing attorney’s fees.

3. Collect Evidence

Wrongful dismissal requires businesses to prove otherwise. You’ll need to show proof you fired the employee due to just cause or served them with a notice of termination. Highlight company policies and procedures to show just cause, or provide documentation of acts or omissions that led to the decision to let go.

You can even ask HR and other employees to refute the former employee’s claims. Emails, text messages, or phone calls can also show the company exhausted all available forms of communication to notify the employee of the termination.

4. Compromise Severance Pay and Other Benefits 

Lawsuits are costly. Depending on the cause, you could lose an average of USD$50,000 for a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. This amount only covers court proceedings, as you’ll also need to shell out for damage control. You could decide early on with a settlement rather than a courtroom setting. You can even add a counterclaim or a motion for dismissal once the negotiation is finalized.

5. Consistent Communication 

Communication is the key to a smooth settlement process. If your employee is still working with you, you can probably ask what’s driving the claim and how you can extend help beyond the severance pay to cover job-hunting expenses. You can also ask your business lawyer for regular updates regarding the case.

6. Take Preventive Measures

Once a settlement is reached, your business can now move forward. Use the lessons you learned from the lawsuit to create better company policies, upgrade training, and establish a specific grievance procedure. Do all you can to strengthen your workplace culture for your employees to thrive.

7. Continue to Grow Your Business

People and businesses have good and bad days. Facing a wrongful dismissal lawsuit doesn’t mean you should throw everything you built. Bounce back with a positive attitude and stay focused. Work harder to make yours a resilient business.

Conclusion

A small business needs to employ cost-effective measures when dealing with a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. Working with experienced lawyers is a crucial part of this strategy, as they can help you navigate the claim either with an out-of-court settlement or litigation. Moving forward, lessons learned from the lawsuit should influence better workplace policies and mold your company into a resilient business.

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