What is the burden of proving an employee was wrongfully dismissed?

An employee alleging that he or she was wrongfully dismissed, bears the onus of proving, on a balance of probabilities, that he or she was, in fact, dismissed: see Gill v. A & D Precision Ltd., 2010 ONSC 4646, [2010] O.J. No. 3583, at para. 69.

For the purpose of a wrongful dismissal action, the manner of dismissal may be express or constructive. The concept of constructive dismissal is founded in the principle that a party to a contract commits a fundamental breach when it demonstrates that it no longer intends to be bound by the contract’s terms. As a result, in circumstances in which an employer unilaterally makes a fundamental or substantial change to the terms of an employee’s contract of employment that otherwise violates the contract’s terms, the employer commits a fundamental breach, and the employee is entitled to consider himself or herself constructively dismissed. The employee may then assert a claim for damages against the employer, for failure to provide reasonable notice of termination: see Farber v. Royal Trust Co. (1996), 1997 CanLII 387 (SCC), [1997] 1 S.C.R. 846, at para. 33.