Suit against minor hockey

Photo: Kelowna Minor Hockey Association

The former executive director of the Kelowna Minor Hockey Association is taking his former employer to court.

Doug Herron worked as executive director of the organization for just under two years, until January 2017.

He says Kelowna Minor Hockey was “moving in a different direction” and he was let go. He was offered two weeks salary in severance pay.

On Tuesday, Herron filed notice of claim in Kelowna court against the association in the amount of $10,327, claiming he's entitled to one and a half months of severance, along with pay for 11 days of overtime he had worked.

“The statutory minimum laid out in the Employment Act is just two weeks (severance), and I'm seeking a common law remedy which is a month per year (of employment),” Herron said. “That seems to be, I won't call it standard, but I would use the word 'usual' – that's the kind of thing, especially for what you would call senior management positions.”

Herron claims the overtime days he's owed stem from meetings he attended throughout 2016.

In a letter sent to Herron shortly after he was let go, Kelowna Minor Hockey president Bob Henderson said they would not be paying Herron for the overtime.

“When we review your employment agreement, it stipulated that your base salary covers all work required to complete your tasks,” Henderson said in the letter. “As a result, we are not prepared to compensate you for the additional time that you put in.”

KMHA would not comment on the suit. 

Herron says he has no hard feelings towards his former employer.

“I've not got an axe to grind or anything like that, I'm just looking for what I think is mine,” he said. “It's just business.”