Just Cause, Constructive Dismissal & Repudiation in BC | YLaw Employment Lawyers

Just Cause, Constructive Dismissal, and Repudiation in BC: Who Actually Ended the Employment?

You did not walk out, nor did you get fired. You are just… not sure what happened. In BC employment law, that ambiguity can mean the difference between months of severance and walking away with nothing.

Whether your employer pushed you out without ever saying “you’re fired,” or you’re an employer weighing whether a resignation was genuine or a lawsuit in disguise, the answer turns on three concepts at the heart of nearly every BC wrongful dismissal claim: just cause, constructive dismissal, and repudiation.

Here is what they mean, how BC courts apply them in 2025 and 2026, and why the choices you make early in a workplace dispute can quietly determine the outcome.

The Short Version (Because You May Be in a Hurry)

• Just cause is when an employer fires you for misconduct serious enough to justify immediate termination with no notice and no severance.
• Constructive dismissal is when your employer changes your job so dramatically, or makes your workplace so unbearable, that you are effectively pushed out without being formally let go.
• Repudiation is the broader legal principle underneath both: if one party breaks the contract badly enough, the other party can treat it as over.
• Filing a lawsuit while still employed can, in certain circumstances, be treated as repudiation. Recent BC court decisions have made this a real risk for employees who do not get proper advice before acting.
• The sequence and timing of your decisions matter enormously. Getting the order wrong can cost you everything.

The Question at the Heart of Every Wrongful Dismissal in BC: Who Actually Ended the Relationship?

That is the core question courts ask in every wrongful dismissal BC case.

It sounds simple. But it rarely is. By the time a BC court is asked to weigh in, there is usually a long history of demotions, pay cuts, threats, cold-shoulder treatment, lawyers’ letters, and sometimes an active lawsuit, all while the person is still technically on the payroll.

Courts look at the full picture and assign one of three labels:

• The employer had just cause and properly terminated the employee
• The employer constructively dismissed the employee
• The employee repudiated the contract

The label you end up with determines your rights, your obligations, and what you can recover. Getting it wrong does not just weaken your case. It can eliminate it.

Just Cause Dismissal: The Highest Bar in BC Employment Law

Just cause means an employer can terminate immediately, without notice, without severance, and without the working notice period the law otherwise requires. It is the most powerful tool an employer has. It is also, by design, extremely difficult to establish.

The governing test comes from the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in McKinley v. BC Tel. The court required a contextual approach: look at the nature and degree of the misconduct, the context, the consequences, the employment contract, and the employee’s role. Then ask whether the misconduct caused an irreparable breakdown in the working relationship.

Not every mistake qualifies. Not even every serious mistake. The conduct has to be “fundamentally antithetical to the continuation of the employment relationship.”

In BC, just cause is most commonly found in situations involving:

• Serious theft or fraud, particularly where the employee has a position of financial trust
• Deliberate dishonesty about a material fact
• Insubordination that strikes at the core responsibilities of the role
• Repeated misconduct after clear warnings
• Violence, harassment, or significant safety violations

The burden is on the employer to prove it. And BC courts have consistently penalized employers who try to manufacture just cause as a cost-saving measure. If you were fired for cause and you believe it was a pretext, talk to an employment lawyer before you accept the framing.

Constructive Dismissal: Fired Without Being Fired

Constructive dismissal is the law’s recognition that an employer can effectively end the employment relationship without ever using the word “terminated.”

It happens in two ways.

A single unilateral breach: Your employer makes a fundamental change to a key term of your employment without your agreement. This could be a significant pay cut, a demotion, a drastic change in your job duties, or a forced relocation to another city.

A pattern of conduct: Over time, your employer behaves in a way that, taken together, tells a reasonable person that they no longer intend to honour the contract. Sustained harassment, progressive marginalization of a senior employee, or a deliberate campaign to make someone miserable can all cross this line.

The leading case for constructive dismissal in Canada is Potter v. New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission. Under Potter, the test asks whether a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt that an essential term of the contract was substantially changed.

A few things employees often miss:

Agreement matters. If you accepted the change, even reluctantly, that can defeat the claim. Courts look for what you said and did in response to the change.

Minor adjustments are not constructive dismissal. A 2% pay cut is probably not. A 15% cut almost certainly is. Courts draw lines based on what is objectively fundamental to the relationship.

Timing matters. If you wait too long to object, or keep performing as if nothing changed, courts can find that you condoned the new terms. This is called “condonation,” and it kills claims.

The burden is on you. As the employee, you have to prove constructive dismissal on a balance of probabilities.

If you believe you have been constructively dismissed, do not resign first and ask questions later. Employees who walk out without legal advice often discover they resigned when they could have claimed constructive dismissal. Speak with one of our employment lawyers in Vancouver before you make any move.

Repudiation: The Legal Principle Underneath Everything

Repudiation is the contract law concept that gives constructive dismissal and just cause their teeth.

If one party breaches a contract badly enough, the other party has the right to treat the contract as over. That is repudiation. In an employment context:

• An employer repudiates the contract by terminating without notice, slashing pay, or making continued employment impossible.
• An employee repudiates the contract by refusing to perform essential duties, abandoning the role, or, as recent BC cases have made clear, by commencing certain types of legal proceedings while still employed.

Repudiation alone does not end the contract. The other party has to accept it. If they do not, the contract continues.

This distinction is more than academic. How and when the other party accepts the repudiation shapes the entire calculation of damages.

The 2025 Cases That Changed the Stakes for Employees

The most significant recent development in BC employment law is not about how employers fire people. It is about what happens when employees take legal action while still on the job.

Reid v. Allied Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning Ltd. (2025 BCSC 1679)

The BC Supreme Court clarified that an employee on working notice does not automatically accept the reasonableness of that notice period simply by continuing to show up. Mr. Reid preserved his right to challenge whether the notice was adequate, even while working out the period. This is an important protection for employees: turning up is not the same as agreeing.

Adrain v. Agricom International Inc. (2025 BCSC 1842)

This one is more significant, and more cautionary.

Ms. Adrain was still actively employed when her lawyer sent demand letters to her employer and then filed a lawsuit. Her employer argued this was just cause for dismissal. The court said the demand letters and the lawsuit filing did not, on their own, constitute just cause.

But the court also found that when Ms. Adrain filed the lawsuit, she repudiated her employment contract. Filing the claim was, in the court’s view, a signal that she no longer intended to be bound by her obligations going forward.

The practical consequence was significant. Her reasonable notice period was calculated differently, with the commencement of the lawsuit treated as the moment she walked away from the deal.

What this means for employees: If you are thinking about sending a lawyer’s letter or filing a claim while still employed, the structure, timing, and framing of that action matter. Done correctly, it protects you. Done carelessly, it can hand your employer the argument they need to deny your severance. Get advice before the first letter goes out.

What BC Employees Should Know Right Now

If you are in a workplace dispute, or you suspect one is coming, here is what tends to separate good outcomes from bad ones:

Do not resign in frustration. If your employer is making your life miserable, you may have a constructive dismissal claim. Resigning first cuts off that claim. Get advice before you leave.

Document everything. Save the emails. Make sure to write down what was said in meetings. Contemporaneous records are often what makes or breaks a case when memory fades or stories change.

Be careful what you sign. Anything labeled an “acknowledgment” or “acceptance” of a change to your role can later be used to argue you condoned it.

Get legal advice before you send anything. Whether it is a demand letter, a notice of claim, or a formal grievance, the mechanics of how you assert your rights matter as much as the rights themselves.

Do not assume “just cause” means you get nothing. Employers frequently claim just cause when they do not have it. Many employees walk away from severance they were entitled to because they take the employer’s word for it.

If you think your rights have been violated, contact YLaw to speak with an employment lawyer. A 30-minute conversation at the right moment can completely change where you end up.

What BC Employers Should Know Right Now

Employers make expensive mistakes in this area too, often because they move quickly without advice.

Do not try to manufacture just cause. Courts recognize the pattern. Terminating someone for cause to avoid paying severance and then scrambling to find reasons after the fact is one of the most common mistakes employers make in wrongful dismissal cases in BC, and it tends to backfire badly.

Document misconduct in real time. Verbal warnings that were never written down are nearly useless in court. If performance or conduct is a concern, document it, follow a process, and give the employee a genuine opportunity to correct the behaviour.

Handle unilateral changes carefully. Even changes you consider minor can ground a constructive dismissal claim if the employee does not consent. Implement changes properly, and get legal advice when you are making significant alterations to compensation, role, or location.

If an employee files a claim while still employed, respond strategically. The Adrain decision gives employers some new footing here, but retaliation firing is still a risk. Get advice on whether the claim itself amounts to repudiation, and respond with a plan rather than a reaction.

For help managing a difficult employment situation, our employment law team works with BC employers to build defensible processes and navigate disputes that are already in motion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between wrongful dismissal and constructive dismissal? Wrongful dismissal happens when an employer terminates an employee without providing proper notice or severance. Constructive dismissal happens when the employer does not formally terminate but changes the job so significantly, or makes conditions so intolerable, that the employee is effectively forced out. Both can entitle the employee to compensation.

Can I be fired for just cause in BC without any warning? Yes, but the bar is high. Just cause requires misconduct serious enough to fundamentally break the employment relationship. Courts require employers to assess proportionality and context. Single incidents rarely qualify unless they involve fraud, violence, or extreme dishonesty.

If I file a lawsuit against my employer while still working, can they fire me? The Adrain decision in 2025 confirmed that filing a lawsuit does not automatically give an employer just cause to dismiss. However, it may be treated as repudiation of your employment contract by you, which changes the severance calculation. Structure matters enormously here. Get legal advice before you file.

What happens if I accept a pay cut under protest? If you object in writing and do not perform under the new terms without continuing to push back, you may be able to preserve a constructive dismissal claim. If you quietly work on for months without objecting, courts may find you condoned the change. The timing and the paper trail are critical.

How much severance am I owed in BC? Your severance depends on your length of service, age, position, how easily you can find comparable work, and other factors. The Employment Standards Act sets statutory minimums, but common law notice can be significantly higher. Many employees can claim far more than their employer’s initial offer.

What is the Bardal test? The Bardal test is the framework BC courts use to calculate reasonable notice periods. It considers the character of the employment, length of service, age, and the availability of similar employment. It is named after the 1960 Ontario case Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd., but it remains the standard across Canada.

Ready to Talk? YLaw Is Here.

Employment law does not leave room for guesswork. Whether your employer quietly pushed you out or fired you for cause, or you’re an employer trying to navigate a messy situation, the decisions you make in the first few days matter more than you might think.

At YLaw, our employment team represents both employees and employers across BC in wrongful dismissal cases, severance negotiations, constructive dismissal claims, and the full range of workplace disputes. We are a 60-person firm built on a settlement-first philosophy. We save clients money where we can, and we fight hard where we have to.

Call us at 604-974-9529 or book a consultation online.

Author: Leena Yousefi, Founder and CEO of YLaw Group