Mitigation in wrongful dismissal: Court of Appeal raises the bar for employers

When a long-serving employee is dismissed, the law requires them to take reasonable steps to look for new work. This is called the “duty to mitigate.” But what happens when an employer argues that the employee didn’t try hard enough? The Ontario Court of Appeal recently gave a clear answer in Pateman v. Koolatron Corporation, 2025 ONCA 224.