A Supreme Court justice has tossed an appeal from David Whitelock, a one-time Folk on the Rocks executive director who claimed he was owed an outstanding bonus from his former employer.
In January 2016, David Whitelock – executive director of the music festival from March 2014 until his termination in December 2016 – filed a complaint with the Employment Standards Office, claiming he was owed unpaid wages, holiday pay and an outstanding bonus as a result of his termination.
Court documents show Whitelock’s contract entitled him to a bonus equal to 20 percent of any general purpose cash income – funds not attached to any festival-run programs or activities – for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2013.
An Employment Standards Officer ruled Whitelock was not entitled to the bonus he sought, because it was stipulated as being conditional in the contract. The bonus hinged on how much excess cash income was available. But with the festival running a deficit of $115,000 in 2013, the officer concluded there was no excess cash and therefore no bonus.
Whitelock appealed that decision , but an adjudicator again sided with his former employer, ruling he wasn’t owed the bonus because “there was no money left over that could be used at the discretion of Folk on the Rocks.”
Whitelock then took the courtroom tug-of-war to NWT Supreme Court in May 2017 to appeal the adjudicator’s decision.
In a recent written decision from Justice Shannon Smallwood, the justice stated, “the issue on appeal is not an extricable question of law and involves a question of mixed law and fact,” meaning the appeal was dismissed as the court could not go forward with it.
Supreme Courts often only address questions of law, with questions of fact being dealt with by the lower courts.