72 year old plaintiff found to have been terminated due to company’s financial decline, not because of her age

Mlotek v. York-Med Systems Inc.
265 A.C.W.S. (3d) 107
Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court)

EMPLOYMENT — Employment standards — Termination

Employee was terminated from her position as training scheduling coordinator after 16 years of working for employer — Employee was 72 years old at time of termination and claimed that her age was reason she was let go — Employer denied claim and said decision to terminate employee and others was based on financial decline due to work shortage that was taking place over course of five years — Employer provided employee with termination letter advising she would receive 16 weeks' pay paid out over course of 12-month period plus additional seven weeks' pay paid out over further three month period in exchange for signing full and final release — Employee rejected offer and employer paid her minimum statutory entitlement of eight weeks' notice as per Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Ont.) — Motions judge dismissed employee's motion for summary judgment claiming she was wrongfully dismissed and discriminated against on basis of age contrary to Human Rights Code (Ont.) — Motions judge determined employee's termination had nothing to do with her age but rather with her position becoming redundant — Employee appealed — Appeal dismissed — Motions judge was correct in concluding that 1998 contract continued in place, in spite of 2011 contract, and governed relationship between parties — Motions judge's interpretation that there was no ambiguity clause in 1998 contract was reasonable