Ontario ruling draws a clear line between business moves and mass firings
Moving a workplace is not just a logistics challenge; it can be a mass firing in the eyes of the law. On April 9, 2026, Ontario Superior Court Justice S.E. Fraser found that Interspec Systems Ltd. wrongfully dismissed eight long-serving employees with an average age of 54, simply by relocating its Rosemount, Ont., manufacturing facility 106 kilometres south to Scarborough. No notice was given and no statutory pay in lieu of notice was received.
On September 5, 2023, Interspec closed its Rosemount facility and relocated to Scarborough. The eight plaintiffs had worked between two and 32 years for the company and received no notice and no statutory pay in lieu of notice under section 57 of the Employment Standards Act.
Among the deemed admissions, the defendants had "changed the primary terms of the employment relationship unreasonably and without notice by moving the place of employment over 100 km away without notice." The defendants were also in arrears of wages and unpaid vacation and had failed in their benefit plan premium and contribution obligations under sections 60(3) and 62(1) and (2) of the ESA.
Justice Fraser awarded common law damages at four weeks of pay per year of service, less mitigation, ranging from $5,250 for Mischa Intihar to $142,083.33 for Henry Kamstra. Individual wage arrears and statutory pay in lieu of notice were also granted.
Age a factor, not a footnote
A key deemed admission was that the defendants had "terminated the Plaintiffs unilaterally targeting their age and tenure in violation of their obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code." The court confirmed discrimination on the ground of age, a prohibited ground under the Code.
Noting insufficient evidence to particularize individual claims, Justice Fraser set human rights damages at $25,000 per plaintiff in the medium range to remedy the impact of the discriminatory conduct. The termination also had the effect of ending benefits, including health benefits.
In a separate and additional award, Justice Fraser granted each plaintiff a further $25,000 in aggravated damages, citing, among other factors, the employer's refusal to pay accrued retroactive wages, refusal to pay ESA statutory minimum pay, and the unilateral termination of collateral health benefits. "I award each Plaintiff $25,000 in aggravated damages for this reprehensible conduct," Justice Fraser wrote.
When the boss becomes personally liable
Interspec's president, Gregor Vahramian, was found personally liable on two grounds: sufficient facts and evidence showed Vahramian "personally discriminated against this senior workforce," and under the Business Corporations Act oppression remedy, he had ceased operations and transferred assets to a successor corporation while employees remained unpaid.
Applying the common employer doctrine, the court found Interspec, Foundry Asset Management Inc., and VDF Vertical Business Accounts sufficiently interrelated to constitute common employers. All defendants were held jointly and severally liable, and were ordered to pay the plaintiffs' costs of $14,161.04 inclusive of HST and disbursements on a partial indemnity basis.
