Starting a Legal Claim
Types of Claims
For workplace disputes, there are various forums where a legal proceeding may be started. Depending on the case, the factual background and what type of result is being sought, a legal proceeding may be started in a court or in an administrative tribunal such as:
BC Employment Standards Branch: minimum wage, overtime, termination pay, vacation pay and other claims related to minimum employment standards. Learn more here.
WorkSafeBC: workplace health and safety claims.
BC Civil Resolution Tribunal: wrongful dismissal cases and other contract cases that are worth less than $5,000.
BC Provincial Court: wrongful dismissal cases and other contract cases that are worth between $5,000 and $35,000. Learn more here.
BC Supreme Court: wrongful dismissal cases and other contract cases that are worth more than $35,000. Learn more here.
Federal Labour Program: minimum wage, overtime, severance/termination pay, vacation pay, workplace health and safety, and unjust dismissal claims for federally regulated employees.
BC Human rights Tribunal: discrimination claims (including sexual harassment).
Canadian Human Rights Commission: discrimination claims (including sexual harassment) for federally regulated employees.
In certain circumstances, legal claims can be started in more than one of these courts and tribunals.
Deadlines
Deadlines in legal claims are incredibly important. If a deadline is missed:
A person or company may be prevented from filing a legal claim;
An active legal claim might be dismissed; or
A court or tribunal can order a person or company to do something specific including paying the other party money.
Not knowing about a deadline is generally not accepted as an excuse. For this reason, it is very important to learn about your legal rights and any related deadlines without delay.
NEgotiating a resolution
Before a person or a company starts a legal claim by filing a lawsuit or a complaint, they can (and usually should) try to resolve their dispute “out of court”.
Attempting to resolve a legal claim involves communicating with the opposing party verbally or in writing and negotiating a solution. A good option in some circumstances is to hire a third-party mediator to help the parties come to negotiated resolution. If the parties can’t come to a resolution and a legal claim is started in a court or tribunal, there are opportunities to negotiate before a claim reaches a hearing or trial. Considering the costly and time-consuming nature of litigation, a negotiated out-of-court resolution is often a good option for all parties involved.
How long will it take?
The length of a legal claim will depend on where a legal claim is filed. Some tribunals or courts operate much faster than others. Also, most cases settle before they make it to a formal decision maker such as a judge or adjudicator.
While every case is different, what we can tell you is that some cases will settle within a few weeks, while other cases may drag on for months or even years.
What are the possible outcomes?
How much money an employee will get after settling a legal claim or going to court will depend on the nature of the claim, and possibly the employee’s income. An employee may be paid an amount for wage loss, an amount to compensate them for their emotional suffering, and/or an amount that is designed to punish an employer for doing something reprehensible.
An employer suing an employee (or former employee) may be able to claim compensation for losses to their business caused by their employee.
If a case goes to the BC Supreme Court, whoever wins might be able to claim a partial reimbursement of their legal fees from the losing party. Be aware that reimbursement of legal fees is not available in every type of employment dispute.
What are the possible risks?
In employment law, the reality is that most legal claims will settle at some point. However, it is possible that a case will settle for less than anticipated.
Also, if a person or company brings a legal claim and loses in court, in addition to paying their own legal fees, they may be required to pay a portion of the winning party’s legal fees as well.
Finally, while some types of claims can be kept confidential, many legal claims become accessible to the general public, with details easy to find on the internet. For this reason, people should consider whether their reputations will suffer at all if they air their disputes in public.
