When compensation is spread across salary, pension, bonuses and equity grants, a wrongful dismissal calculation can become substantially more complicated than multiplying a monthly wage by the notice period. The employee may lose a payment that would have vested well after the termination letter arrived.
Jason Adelman spent about 18 and a half years with a business that IBM later acquired. By the time IBM terminated his employment without cause, he was a senior executive aged 59. His employment letter didn't provide a contractual notice limit. He brought a claim involving reasonable notice, an unpaid past year bonus and equity awards due to vest after the dismissal.
In Adelman v. IBM Canada Limited, 2026 ONSC 420, the Ontario Superior Court set reasonable notice at 24 months, considering his age, tenure and responsibilities. The court valued his lost base pay, pension and benefits at $532,975.68 for that period, accepted that he was owed a $24,227 bonus for 2022 and awarded $269,508.27 for restricted stock units and options scheduled to vest during notice. It rejected his claimed bonus for the notice period as well as aggravated, moral and punitive damages.
After deducting amounts IBM had already paid and other credits, the judgment awarded $682,151.18. A later costs ruling was a separate matter. The outcome wasn't a conclusion that every discretionary benefit becomes payable upon dismissal. The court examined the evidence about each component and whether it formed part of what the employee would have received had proper notice been provided.
The case is a reminder for employers to review equity agreements and termination terms as a whole. An immediate cancellation of unvested awards may not settle the value of compensation lost through an inadequate notice period. Employees likewise need the relevant plan wording, vesting schedules and reliable evidence of value rather than treating headline compensation figures as guaranteed damages.
Source: Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Adelman v. IBM Canada Limited, 2026 ONSC 420, https://www.minicounsel.ca/scj/2026/420