Ontario Court Clarifies Line Between Resignation and Constructive Dismissal

In Poesl v. Sharon Veterinary Clinic Professional Corp., 2025 ONSC 622, the Ontario Superior Court examined whether an employee resigned or was constructively dismissed.

Overview

In this case, the employee asserted a claim for wrongful dismissal or in the alternative constructive dismissal against her employer. The employee worked as a veterinarian for about 20 years at a veterinarian clinic in Ontario. The employer owned the clinic.

An incident occurred where a cat under the care of the clinic escaped. The client and owner of the cat called the clinic and made threatening remarks towards the clinic’s staff. Due to the nature of the threats, the employer called the police who gave warnings to the client. 

The employee continued to work at the clinic for two weeks after the phone call incident. She then took some time off due to a death in the family. She also produced a doctor’s note that said she could not return to work until “this issue” is resolved. The note did not specify what the issue was or what the resolution should be.

A week later, the employee told the employer that she would not return to work until the client was sent a termination letter which would terminate him as a client. The employer said she did not want to send a letter as that may further aggravate the situation. The employee responded that if a letter was not sent, she would not be “coming back.” Hearing this, the employer then requested that the employee return her keys to the clinic.

The employee told another staff member at the clinic that she had been fired. When the employer heard of this, she said that the employee had not been fired and had simply been advised to take some additional time off to recover. Later, the employer sent a letter to the employee stating that she was confident the client would not return to the clinic and that the employee faced very little risk. The letter concluded with a request to confirm when the employee would be coming back. The employee did not respond, and instead brought a legal claim.

Resignation or constructive dismissal?

The employee argued that by not sending the termination letter to the client and asking her for her keys back, the employer had wrongfully or constructively dismissed her.

The Court rejected this claim. The Court found there was no evidence about whether the College of Veterinarians required the clinic to send such a letter. In the absence of a requirement, the Court held it was an “unreasonable and unnecessary” request from the employee. This was assessed after considering that the employer had already taken several steps to address the safety concerns. 

The Court concluded the employee’s insistence on the letter, and her refusal to return in its absence, effectively amounted to a resignation.  

The Court did not accept that a demand for returning keys always constitutes constructive dismissal. In this case, it was reasonable to ask the employee to return her keys when the employee said she would not be returning to work.

Finally, the Court noted that, if the employee had been constructively dismissed, she would have been entitled to 20 months’ notice based on her 20 years of employment. However, because she resigned, no damages were awarded. 

Key takeaways for employers

This decision highlights the narrow margin between a resignation and constructive dismissal. There are several important takeaways for employers:

• Employers should keep records of steps taken in response to a threat or workplace incident.
• If an employee refuses to return to work unless a demand is met, and the demand is not contractually or legally required, the refusal may amount to resignation.
• Asking for keys back does not automatically constitute constructive dismissal.
• Employers should keep clear and open communication with employees, especially in emotionally charged situations to avoid potential future disputes.

For questions about this topic or any other workplace law matters, please reach out to Scott Marcinkow or a member of our Workplace Law team. You can also explore more insights by browsing our latest blog posts here.