Court of Appeal Confirms Unenforceability of Termination Clauses in Dufault Appeal

On December 19th, 2024, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in Dufault v Ignace (Township), 2024 ONCA 915 where it upheld the invalidity of a termination clause that defined “cause” more broadly than the “wilful misconduct” threshold under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”). In so doing, the Court of Appeal confirmed it would not be revisiting its 2020 decision in Waksdale, but refused to weigh in on the merits of other challenges which were successful at the lower Court.