A Maritime newspaper that received federal government bailout cash has been blasted by a judge for firing a 39-year employee without notice or severance..Layoffs at the Halifax Chronicle Herald occurred even though the publisher received pandemic wage subsidies and payroll rebates under a $595 million media bailout..“There is dignity in work,” wrote Justice Jamie Campbell of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court..Campbell ordered Halifax Herald Ltd., publisher of the Chronicle Herald, to pay $88,000 in damages..Jerry Slater, 61, a Herald employee since 1981, was laid off on March 24, 2020 and abruptly fired last September 1 without notice. Slater worked as a district manager of flyer distribution. The publisher blamed pandemic-related revenue declines..Herald lawyers said under the terms of Slater’s contract “they legally owed him nothing at all” and “their legal obligations as they acknowledged them to him as an employee of almost four decades amounted to nothing,” wrote Justice Campbell..“Almost all of Mr. Slater’s working life has been with the Halifax Herald,. He worked for that company for 39 years. That is a significant factor in determining the period of notice required to be given.”.“An employee of 39 years has earned a moral right to be treated with dignity. They should be granted some level of protection against the financial consequences of termination. Jerry Slater lost his job with the Herald after a career of almost four decades through no fault of his own.”.The Chronicle Herald at the time was drawing subsidies under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program, along with its affiliated Saltwire Network of Atlantic newspapers. The Herald was also paid payroll rebates of up to $13,750 per newsroom employee under a media bailout program approved by Parliament in 2019..The Court was told Slater was unable to work after his firing due to surgery and lived on $2,000 monthly pandemic relief cheques under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program. Only after Slater sued did the Herald offer him a job as a $17 an hour security guard at a printing plant..“Not many people would jump at the opportunity,” wrote Campbell..Herald management in 2016 testimony at the Commons heritage committee appealed for federal intervention to aid newspapers in the name of democracy..“Journalism’s role in our democracy remains pivotal,” testified Mark Lever, CEO..“It is fundamental. We are a rich and vibrant country made up of thousands upon thousands of communities. It is journalism at the grassroots that binds us together.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
