A recent case from British Columbia illustrates the importance of employers keeping their private opinions about employees to themselves.
Jackie Dawydiuk worked as a clerk for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).   After being recently promoted, she was surprised when ICBC eliminated her position and instead, offered her a job as regional manager.  She took too long to decide, and lost both the promotion and her job.
She successfully sued ICBC for wrongful dismissal, namely because of a report that surfaced, written by her supervisor Richard Rees.  It became clear to the courts that Rees’s bias towards Dawydiuk had played a key role in her firing.
This case illustrates how sensitive courts are becoming to situations that can damage an employees credibility.  Dawydiuk didn’t need to prove that Rees acted in bad faith, only that he was careless in his communication of what was deemed to be an ill-formed opinion of her.
Daniel Lublin offers the following tip in his weekly Metro article – “think twice before speaking ill of your colleagues”.