Case.docx
Moot #9:
The Case of Patrick, Whose Performance Turned Poor Patrick was employed as an installer and repairman for residential telephone and internet hookups by the Kelowna Kall and Komputer Kommunications Company (“Kelowna Kall”). His work involved the installation of telephone and computer cable lines to customers’ houses, and the repair and maintenance of the equipment installed. He was paid hourly, but earned approximately $48,000.00 annually. Patrick worked out of the Kelowna Kall Lake Country branch. It serviced 4000 households. The staff in the office included Patrick, another repairer/installer, an office manager, and a receptionist who doubled as office administrator and clerk. 12 Patrick and the other installer divided “on-call” evening hours between them, but only responded to customers’ service requests in the evening if a total breakdown of equipment had occurred. Evening service calls were screened by an answering service, and only emergency service requests were relayed to the installer on call. Patrick’s performance during his first few years of employment had been entirely satisfactory, but by the end of his fifth year his office manager, Otto Frank, was starting to have concerns. On several occasions, Patrick had decided to quit work at the 5:00pm end of his normal work day, leaving customers’ equipment only partially installed, when the job could have been finished with a few extra minutes of work. When the receptionist had reminded Patrick of the Kelowna Kall policy that installations should be completed in one visit to the customer’s home, Patrick had snapped back that he would be the one to decide if the work could be done in one visit. On another occasion, a customer had telephoned Otto to say that Patrick’s breath had smelled of alcohol when he had come to her home one evening to repair her internet connection. A few weeks later, at the end of his shift, Patrick decided to have a few beers at a local pub. It was an evening on which Patrick was not the “on-call” installer for Kelowna Kall. Two hours later, Patrick became involved in a brawl with some other patrons over the question whether the Vancouver Canucks were ever likely to win a Stanley Cup. Patrick was wearing his Kelowna Kall uniform at the time. The police were called, and Patrick, along with some others, was charged and convicted of causing a public disturbance and fined $200.00. At the trial, it was revealed in open court that Patrick was a repairer/installer for Kelowna Kall. This fact was also reported in a short article in the back pages of a community newspaper that was delivered free to residents’ homes. Patrick missed no work while attending the trial because he scheduled some holidays to coincide with it. Otto did not learn of the incident in the pub until he happened to read the report in the paper. The next morning, he called Patrick into his office, paid him his wages owed to that date, as well as vacation pay. He also told Patrick that he was dismissed, and that he should leave the premises at once. At the time of his discharge, Patrick was 27 years of age. Instead of immediately commencing to look for work, Patrick decided to take a vacation in Cuba. A month later, he returned to Kelowna and started his job search. He sent out a few resumes to competitors of Kelowna Kall, and answered “Wanted” ads in the classified section in the local paper, and other online sources, without success. In the end, Patrick did not find work until seven months had passed from the date he was dismissed. He took a job stocking shelves at a local supermarket at a salary of $24,000.00 per annum. Patrick then commenced an action for damages for wrongful dismissal against Kelowna Kall. Patrick’s claim was dismissed at trial. Patrick appeals.
Sugandha
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