I am seeking guidance on whether I may have a potential constructive dismissal claim in Ontario based on the following circumstances.
I have been employed by a publicly traded company for approximately 15 years and have held a variety of positions during that time. I am currently on maternity leave.
Approximately three months before I began my maternity leave, the team I worked on was dissolved. Some team members were laid off, while others were reassigned to a different role that I had never performed. My responsibility was primarily to wind down the team's operations until I left on maternity leave. As a result, the position I held no longer exists.
I understand that my employer is required to return me to my position following maternity leave, or to a comparable position if my original role no longer exists. My concern is that I may be offered a role that is substantially different from my previous position and one for which I have limited experience.
For context, I was not a manager and did not have direct reports; I was an individual contributor. While I began my career with this employer in more client-facing positions, for approximately the last 6–7 years I have worked in primarily internal-facing roles.
I do not yet know what role I will be offered upon my return. However, based on what happened to my former teammates and the available roles within the organization, I believe it is likely that I will be offered a position that is heavily client-facing. This would be a significant change from the nature of the work I have been performing for the past several years.
I am concerned that I could be placed into a position that represents a significant change in duties, responsibilities, skill requirements, or expectations compared to the role I held before my leave.
My employment agreement contains the following clause:
"Changing Needs: As our business needs change, the Company may, from time to time, change your title, duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships and work location without causing termination or breach of this Agreement."
My question is: if I am offered a role that is significantly different from the one I held before maternity leave, would I still potentially have grounds to pursue a constructive dismissal claim in Ontario despite this contractual language? If so, what factors would courts typically consider in determining whether the new role is sufficiently comparable to my previous position? Additionally, how much weight would a court likely give to the contractual language above when assessing whether a change was reasonable?