Founder of Delta bird rescue society wins wrongful dismissal case

DELTA (NEWS 1130) – A woman who spent more than 30 years caring for wounded birds has won a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Delta-based charity she founded.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has awarded Beverly Day more than $130,000.

Day set up Delta’s Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) in 1985 and ran it until 2014 when she was fired amid accusations she had misappropriated funds.

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“O.W.L. commenced this lawsuit on January 13, 2015. It sued Ms. Day for breach of contract, asserting that she failed in her contractual duty to ensure that O.W.L.’s bookkeeper deduct her rent from her paycheques and failed to reimburse O.W.L. for those payments,” read the reasons for judgement. “O.W.L. also advanced an alternative claim for unjust enrichment.”

Day denied the claim and filed a counterclaim seeking damages for wrongful dismissal.

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A BC Supreme Court judge dismissed claims made against Day, noting documents from the organization and evidence from former bookkeepers “clearly demonstrate” that she never received unauthorized payments.

The judge also noted Day’s employment was wrongfully terminated because OWL’s Board of Directors assumed the worst and only carried out a partial and “scant” investigation.

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“Ms. Day’s employment was wrongly terminated, without cause, because O.W.L’s Board of Directors (“Board”) rushed to judgment and assumed the worst possible construction of alleged events involving Ms. Day, having carried out only a partial and scant investigation,” read the court document. “The reasons put forward by the Board at the time of Ms. Day’s termination were factually inaccurate and did not justify her dismissal.”

NEWS 1130 has reached out to OWL for comment.