Background: Bradley Brown, an electrical engineer, founded Iders Inc., which GE Transportation acquired in 2016. After GE sold GE Transportation’s assets to Wabtec Corporation, Wabtec offered Brown continued employment on similar terms. Brown declined the offer, leading to his unemployment and a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

Legal Arguments/Issues: Brown claimed he was dismissed without reasonable notice or pay in lieu, arguing his employment was constructively terminated by the sale. He sought a pro-rated $133,000 retention bonus, asserting his termination was involuntary. Brown also pursued a $60,000 performance bonus for 2018, which GE Transportation contended was conditional on his acceptance of Wabtec’s offer. GE Transportation argued that Brown voluntarily resigned by refusing the offer and failed to mitigate his damages.

Held: The court found Brown’s employment was constructively terminated without reasonable notice or pay in lieu due to GE’s sale to Wabtec, which ended his employment with GE Transportation. The court ruled Brown failed to mitigate his damages by unreasonably declining Wabtec’s comparable offer. Despite this, the court determined Brown was entitled to the $133,000 retention bonus due to the involuntary nature of his termination. However, Brown was not entitled to the $60,000 VIC bonus as it required accepting Wabtec’s offer.

Costs/Damages Awarded: Bradley Brown was awarded $133,000 plus pre-judgment interest for the retention bonus. As the successful party, he was entitled to costs, with the parties allowed to make further submissions if they could not agree on this issue.