TORONTO — A former TD Insurance associate vice-president has sued the bank in Ontario Superior Court after she was fired from a $210,000-a-year job over the line “I am HIS ✝ ” in her email signature.Sonja Denobrega’s statement of claim seeks more than $400,000, including $235,000 for a 12-month notice period and $210,000 in punitive and human-rights damages. According to the National Post, she alleges wrongful dismissal and says the January 2026 termination was based in part on creed and age. She had been at TD only a few months after leaving a rival insurer. She is 52 and has more than 25 years in the insurance business.TD’s statement of defence says the firing had nothing to do with creed, age or other Human Rights Code grounds. It says it had just cause to dismiss her without notice for “wilful subordination” after she “repeatedly ignored warnings” to bring her signature into line. “The Plaintiff’s employment was terminated solely due to her failure to comply with TD’s standards regarding email signatures, which were explained to her on several occasions,” the defence reads.None of the allegations have been proven. Denobrega did not comment. TD said it could not speak further because the matter is before the courts..TD says that in late October 2025, human resources received a complaint about a colleague who had added “Pronouns: I am HIS ✝ ” to a signature. The complainant said it could be read as a micro-aggression. Denobrega’s claim says she looked at the bank’s Christian resources, found them thinner than those for sexual minorities, and added “I am HIS ✝ ” — without the word “Pronouns” — after the colleague was told to take the line down.In meetings with her boss and HR, she asked for a company-wide review of signatures, arguing the policy “only allowed for gender/sex identification and allowed no room for other identities.” She wanted pronouns stripped from signature lines. TD says optional pronouns are non-negotiable and that dropping the policy would breach the Canadian Human Rights Act. Its standards bar quotes, taglines, icons, images, slogans and other personal statements, and allow only “limited, optional identifiers such as personal pronouns.”Denobrega’s claim says she had a blast sent to about 10,000 insurance-division staff reminding them of the rules, and that she did not intend to put her job at risk. TD says every employee is warned that a code-of-conduct breach can mean termination, and that a senior leader was expected to model the policy.Toronto employment lawyer Paulette Haynes, who is not on the file, told the National Post Denobrega must show a link between her religious views and the firing, while TD must prove just cause.
