{"id":13267,"date":"2026-02-10T21:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/?p=13267"},"modified":"2026-02-10T21:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:09:00","slug":"tat-ruling-on-harassment-and-dismissal-what-employers-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/tat-ruling-on-harassment-and-dismissal-what-employers-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"TAT Ruling on Harassment and Dismissal: What Employers Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Tribunal Administratif du Travail (TAT) ordered Hydro\u2011Qu\u00e9bec to pay nearly $250,000 to a former executive after finding that he faced psychological harassment and constructive dismissal. The decision highlights significant shortcomings in the employer\u2019s management practices and handling of internal complaints.<\/p>\n<div>\n<h2>Key Facts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The employee, newly promoted to a management role, was assigned to lead a difficult team but received little support.<\/li>\n<li>Employees were given direct access to his supervisor without his knowledge, undermining his authority.<\/li>\n<li>A \u201csupport\u201d plan imposed by the employer was deemed by the Tribunal to be a corrective measure based on perceptions rather than objective facts.<\/li>\n<li>The employee was pressured to change his management style or accept a demotion.<\/li>\n<li>After showing signs of psychological exhaustion, he was forced to undergo an immediate workplace climate assessment and later went on sick leave.<\/li>\n<li>A psychologist produced a report without interviewing him, basing conclusions on employee perceptions.<\/li>\n<li>His harassment complaint advanced slowly despite serious allegations.<\/li>\n<li>Upon an attempted return to work, he was confronted with allegations of misconduct and effectively suspended.<\/li>\n<li>He was ultimately dismissed for reasons the Tribunal found to be pretexts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tribunal Findings<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The employer failed to support the employee in a destabilized work environment.<\/li>\n<li>Management interventions were described as deficient, ill\u2011advised, and erratic.<\/li>\n<li>The employer ignored an external investigator\u2019s conclusion that harassment had occurred.<\/li>\n<li>The Tribunal found a serious breach of the employer\u2019s duty to prevent and address psychological harassment.<\/li>\n<li>Compensation included moral and punitive damages for the employer\u2019s failures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Practical Takeaways for Employers<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Newly promoted managers must receive adequate guidance, particularly when managing troubled teams.<\/li>\n<li>Corrective measures must rely on clear, measurable, and realistic expectations.<\/li>\n<li>Disciplinary actions must be based on verified facts rather than perceptions.<\/li>\n<li>Harassment complaints require attentive, timely, and thorough handling, especially when external findings corroborate them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For more information on this topic, consult the original blog post<strong>: \u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/le-mot-juste.ca\/en\/harassment-constructive-dismissal-and-erratic-management-hydro-quebec-ordered-to-pay-250000-to-former-executive\/\"><em>Harassment, Constructive Dismissal, and \u2018Erratic\u2019 Management: A Crown Corporation Ordered to Pay $250,000 to an Executive.<\/em><\/a><strong>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions about constructive dismissal or harassment at work, contact <a href=\"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/me-wendy-chavez\/\">Wendy Chavez<\/a> al +1 <a href=\"tel:+15149073231\">514 907-3231<\/a> (ext. 103) o a <a href=\"mailto:wchavez@wmr-law.ca\">wchavez@wmr-law.ca<\/a> for legal advice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tribunal Administratif du Travail (TAT) ordered Hydro\u2011Qu\u00e9bec to pay nearly $250,000 to a former executive after finding that he faced psychological harassment and constructive dismissal. The decision highlights significant shortcomings in the employer\u2019s management practices and handling of internal complaints. Key Facts The employee, newly promoted to a management role, was assigned to lead&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[284],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-le-mot-juste"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13268,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13267\/revisions\/13268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wmr-law.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}