Transfer from Vancouver to Burnaby Is Not Constructive Dismissal

After 34 years of working for the North Vancouver commercial diving business her husband had founded, an office manager was transferred to Burnaby. The move didn’t go well and the manager felt like a fish out of water. Working from home didn’t help the situation. Rather than negotiating a solution, she walked out of the meeting and sued for constructive dismissal. The court tossed the case and the BC Court of Appeal upheld the ruling as reasonable. Companies have broad discretion to transfer personnel, especially when the move is part of a general restructuring, as was the situation in this case. Nor did the evidence support the manager’s claim that the company essentially stripped her of her duties [Costello v. ITB Marine Group Ltd., 2021 BCCA 154 (CanLII), April 16, 2021].