Can a court award punitive damages against an employer in a wrongful dismissal case in Ontario?

Yes, but rarely. Punitive damages are reserved for genuinely exceptional cases where an employer's conduct is found to be so harsh, malicious, or highhanded that it deserves independent punishment, beyond simply compensating you for your actual losses. This is a considerably higher bar than what is needed for moral damages, which address unfairness in the manner of the dismissal itself; punitive damages typically require a separate, independently wrongful act by the employer, not just an unpleasant or poorly handled termination process.

Courts award punitive damages sparingly in the employment context specifically, so most wrongful dismissal cases, even ones involving genuinely unfair treatment, are resolved through notice-based and moral damages rather than a punitive award. Given how exceptional this remedy is in practice, it is not something to expect as a routine part of a wrongful dismissal claim, and it typically only arises where there is clear evidence of deliberate, egregious misconduct by the employer that goes well beyond an ordinary, if unfair, dismissal.