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In Piresferreira v. Ayotte, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that employees cannot sue their employers for the negligent infliction of mental suffering in tort; rather, aggrieved employees must pursue contractual remedies.

In this case, an employee went off work on stress leave after a series of workplace conflicts that culminated in the employee allegedly being yelled at and pushed by her manager. The employee never returned from stress leave and sued her employer for wrongful dismissal. The employee also sued in tort for negligent infliction of mental suffering. The trial judge awarded the employee more than $500,000 for negligent infliction of mental suffering. On appeal, the Court of Appeal recognized a prima facie duty of care between employer and employee sufficient to ground a tort claim for negligent infliction of mental suffering, but the Court held that this duty was negated by policy considerations. In particular, the Court was concerned about allowing disgruntled employees to sue in tort while continuing to work. The Court of Appeal held that with the exception of intentional infliction of mental suffering, an aggrieved employee must sue in contract in which case, the employment relationship must necessarily end.

This decision is significant for employers because damages for mental suffering awarded under a contract will generally be smaller than tort awards. In addition, requiring employment relationships to end before a claim can be filed should create certainty in employee relations and reduce workplace conflict.