Saskatchewan judge awards fired URSU employee over $77K for wrongful dismissal

A special general meeting was held online Tuesday to vote on the dissolution of the University of Regina Students' Union. (Jacob Carr/CTV Regina)

A former employee at the now-defunct University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) has been awarded $77,380 in a wrongful termination suit.

As a result, U of R alumnus Haris Khan will receive 12 months of pay plus $10,000 for moral damages, based on a May 1 ruling at Regina’s Court of King’s Bench.

Khan was employed as URSU’s director of programs and public relations from March 2023 until his dismissal in February 2024.

Later in 2024, Khan sued URSU, claiming he was fired without cause. A termination letter sent to Khan cited alleged absenteeism, availability issues and failure to execute his responsibilities as the reasons for his firing.

In court, URSU’s legal counsel further alleged that Khan worked from home when not authorized to do so and failed to file his work timesheets properly when he did.

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However, Justice Michael J. Morris stated that URSU had not established that it had just cause to dismiss Khan, stating URSU failed to conduct a reasonable investigation into Khan’s supposed absenteeism and also failed to provide him either 12 months’ notice or the minimum pay-in-lieu of notice as outlined in his contract and under the Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA).

“I also conclude that “12 month’s” was intended to qualify both the requisite notice period to avoid the payment of severance, and the quantum of severance if no notice was given,” Morris wrote.

“Interpreting “severance” as potentially being less than 12 months’ pay in lieu of notice would be both inconsistent with the notice period and render the amount of severance ambiguous, neither of which would have reasonably been within both parties’ contemplation.”

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URSU argued that Khan’s alleged absences occurred during a very crucial transitional period for URSU. However, Khan said this concealed the true reason for his firing, which he said was due to organizational restructuring.

According to court documents, Khan sought care immediately following his dismissal, leading his physician to describe his mental health as being “considerably impacted.”

“I accept that Mr. Khan suffered impacts on his mental health beyond those ordinarily attributable to job loss. Further, I conclude that URSU’s conduct caused these impacts,” Morris said, citing URSU’s aforementioned failures to investigate the alleged absenteeism and to comply with the SEA.

URSU was dissolved in October 2025, the same month it launched a defamation lawsuit against Khan and local waste disposal company Just Bins for allegedly defaming its reputation.

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Due to URSU’s status as an “embattled students’ union that is being liquidated,” Morris said there was no need for further punitive damages beyond what it already owed to Khan.

Both Khan and URSU have leave to make written submissions on costs which must be served and filed within 21 days of the May 1 judgement.