The see- saw continues on the issue of whether a lay-off during Covid constitutes a constructive dismissal.
The first Ontario Superior Court trial level decision came out a few months ago and said that the recent amendments to the Employment Standards Act by the Ford government regarding lay-offs did not change the common law. Thus, that court ruled that the common law view from the last 30 years or so (one of my 1996 cases of McHugh v Fitness Canada Health Spa being one of the early cases on this) was still valid, that such a lay-off was a constructive dismissal.
Then about a month ago, a case called Taylor came out and an Ontario Superior Court judge went the other way, and found that the Ford governments changes to the regulations under the Employment Standards Act did pre-empt the common law and thus that court held that a lay-off was not a constructive dismissal.
Now, about a week ago, a third Ontario Superior Court judge has entered the fray and has decided to follow the first case, and not the Taylor case, and has held that the common law remains the same; a lay-off is a constructive dismissal.
The good news is that the Taylor decision is being appealed up to the Ontario Court of Appeal- so we should have some final guidance on this important issue by the end of 2021.