What is the legal basis for recovery of lost employment insurance benefits?

That said, it would appear the right to recover lost employment insurance benefits was taken for granted in these cases in that the legal basis for such an award was never expounded upon. In fact, it is precisely the absence of debate on this issue that led Larlee, J.A. to observe in Paulin v. Vibert that: “…it would be prudent to avoid a discussion on the merits of this novel point [the notion that an employer is liable for the payment of employment insurance benefits lost by an employee] until it is more fully argued in a lower court” (para. 27). Obviously, the panel was of the view that the issue requiring determination in that case was fact-specific and it intended to leave unresolved the point of law raised in the case at bar.