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CHAUDHRI: Coca-Cola's frustration problem

Long-time factory worker at bottling plant let go after injury on the job

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Most employers may have never heard of frustration of employment. Fewer have tried to use it. Coca-Cola just did, and they may regret it.

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Shawne Hopkins, a 57-year-old factory worker, spent over three decades working at Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited (Coca-Cola).

CHAUDHRI: Coca-Cola's frustration problem Back to video

Hopkins alleges that in January 2024, a nearly 1,000-kilogram overhead door malfunctioned and tore his shoulder apart. Injured on the job, Hopkins required medical accommodation and time off work to seek treatment. He spent two years undergoing surgeries and recovery.

Then, without warning or indication, in February 2025, Hopkins argues that Coca Cola terminated him with no severance and no benefits, and later offered him a mere $2,511.20 as a parting gesture. For all of his years of service, Hopkins believed the offer to be well below what he was entitled to.

To justify the dismissal, Coca-Cola relied on the legal doctrine called frustration of employment. Frustration of employment allows an employer to end an employment contract without severance or notice when an unforeseen event makes it impossible for the employee to ever return to work. The burden of proof is on the employer, and the bar to prove it is exceptionally high. And in this case, Coca-Cola likely did not meet it.

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Here is where things went wrong.

First, Hopkins’ injury happened at work. Hopkins alleges he had flagged the malfunctioning door to his supervisors for months before the accident, yet no repair was made. Frustration does not apply where the event that caused the problem was foreseeable. In this case, if he can prove the many warnings, Hopkins’ will argue his injury was entirely avoidable.

Second, timing matters. Frustration only applies where an illness or disability is permanent in nature, not temporary. Two years may not be enough time to draw that conclusion. Courts look at the totality of the evidence available at the time of termination and ask whether there was a reasonable likelihood of the employee returning to work within a reasonable time. Acting without a clear and definitive medical prognosis, before that picture is fully known, is a significant legal risk. Ontario courts have consistently held that the bar for proving frustration is high, and employers who move too quickly tend to find that out the hard way.

The third problem may be the most significant. Even where frustration is legitimately established, it does not erase every obligation an employer has. Under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000, where a contract is frustrated due to an employee’s illness or injury, the employee remains entitled to severance pay. Offering Hopkins $2,511.20 after 35 years of service, conditional on signing a release, is difficult to reconcile with those obligations.

We can’t forget the employer’s duty to accommodate under the Ontario Human Rights Code, which requires an employer to genuinely explore every reasonable alternative before concluding there is no path forward. Coca-Cola employs over 6,000 people nationwide and opened a brand new $75-million, AI-enabled facility right next to the building where Hopkins had worked for decades. The argument that a company of that size had no suitable role for a 35-year employee is a very hard sell.

Employers, take note. Frustration of employment is a legitimate legal tool, but it is a last resort, not a first move. Before invoking it, Ontario employers should ask themselves the following:

Do you have a clear, current medical opinion confirming the employee’s disability is permanent and that the employee cannot perform any available role in your organization?

Have you genuinely canvassed every alternative position, accommodation, or modified duty across the entire company?

Have you assessed your obligations under the Employment Standards Act, 2000?

If the injury arose from a workplace incident, have you fully assessed your occupational health and safety exposure?

And would a reasonable observer find your severance offer defensible given the employee’s years of service?

If any of those answers is no, put frustration on hold and call your employment lawyer.

Hopkins’ union has filed a grievance and the matter could take months to resolve. Sometimes the most expensive thing a company can do is try to save money on the way out the door.

— This column was co-written by employment lawyer Sunira Chaudhri and her associate Samantha Khaouli. The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice. Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email me at sunira@worklylaw.com and your question may be featured in a future column.

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