The B.C. Supreme Court has awarded six financial planners damages against their former firm, First Heritage Financial Planning Ltd., while disallowing the expenses they incurred in setting up their own businesses after their terminations.

On May 22, 2002, a previous judge found that each of the plaintiffs had been dismissed from his employment as a financial planner with First Heritage “prematurely and without cause”. He found each plaintiff was entitled to damages as a result of his wrongful dismissal from employment. The hearing before the B.C. Supreme Court was for the assessment of those damages.

The court ruled that each of the planners is entitled to damages for: loss of benefits; loss of pension; trailers; and loss of income. However, it also found that the planners are not entitled to recover losses incurred for business expenses in setting up their own businesses. Each planner also received costs of the action.

The court also ruled that the planers didn’t have to become self-employed planners after their termination. “In my view, the evidence put forth by each of the plaintiffs falls far short of establishing that starting his own business was the only reasonable option open to him. I agree with the submission of First Heritage that it is not responsible for the business expenses of each of the plaintiffs in excess of the revenue earned by him during the notice period,” said the Hon. Mr. Justice Melnick in his judgement.