Client Win: IT Specialist Wins 16 Months’ Severance After Temporary Layoff

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP won 16 months’ severance for an Ontario IT specialist whose employer put him on a temporary layoff without paying any severance.

Richard Turcotte had spent 14.5 years with Grenville Management Inc. and its predecessor. When the company sent him home during the pandemic, he believed he was waiting to be called back. What he didn’t know was that his employer had already crossed a line that could make it owe him severance.

Our lawyers Jon Pinkus and Fiona Martyn took his case to trial and secured a clear win: the company couldn’t avoid its obligations simply by calling his job loss a temporary layoff.

The Employer Said He Hadn’t Been Dismissed

Grenville treated Turcotte as an employee on leave, rather than someone who had lost his job. It argued that Ontario’s emergency COVID-19 rules protected it from his severance claim.

The company also pointed to a document Turcotte had signed agreeing to extend the layoff. It said that meant he had accepted the layoff itself.

And when his health became part of the case, Grenville argued that his disability brought the employment contract to an end without the severance he was seeking. In March 2023, it even sent him a recall letter after learning that he was medically unable to return.

Our Team Showed Why Severance Was Owed

Asking someone to accept a layoff isn’t the same as telling them they’re being laid off. That distinction mattered here.

Turcotte’s contract required his agreement. But Grenville presented the layoff as a decision it had already made. The court agreed that signing an extension didn’t give the company permission to impose the layoff in the first place.

That meant Turcotte had been constructively dismissed on March 5, 2021. In everyday terms, the company had changed his employment so significantly, without his agreement, that the law treated it as a dismissal.

Our team also defeated the company’s other arguments. The court found that the pandemic rules didn’t take away his right to bring this claim. And his later health problems didn’t erase a dismissal that had already happened while he was still working.

Why We Won 16 Months’ Pay

Turcotte’s work depended on offices needing printers, scanners and photocopiers serviced. With offices closed during the pandemic, finding a similar job would have been especially difficult.

The judge accepted our team’s argument that those conditions mattered. He started with a 10-month notice period and added six months because of the pandemic’s impact on Turcotte’s particular line of work.

The court also refused to reduce the award because Turcotte hadn’t looked for another job. He initially had good reason to believe he was waiting for a recall. His health problems later prevented him from working.

Read the full court decision: Richard Turcotte v. Grenville Management Inc., 2025 ONSC 3087.

What This Means For You

• A temporary layoff can still mean severance. Your employer’s label doesn’t decide whether you’ve lost your job. Your contract and the circumstances matter.
• A signature doesn’t always settle the issue. What you agreed to matters. Turcotte signed an extension, but that didn’t authorize the original layoff.
• Health problems don’t automatically wipe out a severance claim. When your employment ended and when you became unable to work can make a big difference.
• Get advice promptly. If you’re on a temporary layoff in Ontario, don’t assume you have to wait for a recall before asking about your options.

A Lesson For Employers

Check what the employment contract actually allows before laying someone off. A right to ask for consent is not permission to make the decision for them. Grenville learned that difference the hard way.

Another win involving health and job loss: Read how our firm won compensation for an employee given working notice while on medical leave.

Laid Off and Left Without Severance?

Being told your layoff is temporary can leave you stuck, waiting for a call and wondering how long your savings will last. You may have more options than your employer has explained.

Our Ontario employment lawyers, including our Toronto team, can review your contract, explain whether you may be owed severance pay and help you decide what to do next.

Turcotte came to us without any severance. Our team won 16 months’ pay. Let us check what your employer may owe you.