Attorney Howard Markowitz advises frustrated radio caller about:

Emotional strategy: Don’t hit your boss - and other practical advice for employees about to be fired.

It’s been said that diplomacy is the art of thinking twice before saying nothing.  But how can you possibly act diplomatically when you’ve just been fired from the long-term job that you both love and depend on for friends, income, and emotional support?  While one certainly appreciates the psychological urge to tell-off your supervisor, board of directors, and all company shareholders alike - our attorneys can only provide you the following practical advice on how to best handle your unexpected departure from work. 

First of all, don’t kick and scream your way out of the workplace.  While entirely understandable, remember that you will shortly be negotiating important severance package terms with these same people you’re currently telling off, and thereby inciting them to lower your termination pay - if not leave you to fight your way through court just to recover anything altogether.

Furthermore, your verbal threats of harassment and intimidation may lead to criminal prosecution in addition to your current unemployment worries underway.  At a minimum, any wrongful dismissal damages to which you’re typically entitled will be set-off to the extent you libel your employer, slander your boss, steal office supplies, and/or sabotage the workplace.

 Secondly, don’t sign anything whatsoever.  While experienced legal counsel may be effective in overturning any documentation signed under pressure and duress, your signing a letter of resignation upon termination may very well disqualify you from any wrongful dismissal entitlements whatsoever.  Meanwhile, any limited-time severance package offered to you on the spot at termination will generally improve in weeks and months ahead following hard negotiation by your lawyer, and you still have up to six years’ limitation period  to commence legal proceedings if it doesn’t.

Finally, seek immediate new employment.  When one door closes, another door opens - but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we don’t see the one which has opened for us.  Not only will landing new employment provide you with potential windfall monies in addition to any severance package negotiated with your former boss, but Ontario courts don’t look kindly upon terminated employees in breach of their duty to mitigate damages arising from any wrongful dismissal circumstances relied upon in court.

While easier said than done, there are few wrongful dismissal circumstances that can’t be made much worse by acting out frustrations on your boss, and few careers not improved by quickly landing even better employment to the great envy of your former co-workers.