“I am HIS ✝️”

"The Plaintiff's employment was terminated solely due to her failure to comply with TD's standards regarding email signatures, which were explained to her on several occasions."

"As a senior employee in a leadership position, the Plaintiff was expected to model compliance with TD's politics, not to defy them."

"Her misconduct undermined TD's ability to rely on her to follow TD procedures and guidelines and resulted in a loss of trust that irreparably damaged the employment relationship."

TD cannot reverse this policy as doing so would be a breach of its obligations under the Canadian Human Rights Act."

"[TD's email signature rules permit] only limited, optional identifiers such as personal pronouns, consistent with its obligations [under the company's code of conduct, respectful workplace policy and applicable law]." 

TD Insurance lawsuit rebuttal in statement of defence

 

"[Denobrega] felt that there were fewer resources for Christians at TD and more resources for the LGBT community which she found unfair."

"[Her problem with TD's policy was that she felt it] only allowed for gender/sex identification and allowed no room for other identities."

"Sonja had no intention of behaving in a manner that would jeopardize her employment [and was] completely unaware that her actions would result in her termination." 

Lawsuit statement of claim 

TD’s email signature rules permit “only limited, optional identifiers such as personal pronouns, consistent with its obligations” under the company’s code of conduct, respectful workplace policy and applicable law, its statement of defence says. Photo by Gordon Kent/Postmedia/File

 

Former associate vice-president of underwriting operations, Sonja Denobrega 52, with TD Insurance, had no intention of alienating her employer when she contradicted that employer's email signature company policy for all its employees. In doing so however, she placed her $210,000 annual salary in jeopardy. With 25 years of experience in the industry, her time at TD Insurance had been short, mere months, following her hiring from another insurer in October of 2025.

 

Around that time the company's human resources department dealt with a complaint that one of its employees had modified her email signature, adding "Pronouns: “I am HIS ✝️”. An addition which the complainant pointed out could be viewed as a microaggression targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community. After the email signature rebellion had been quashed, Ms. Denobrega felt compelled to support that colleague and chose to use the very same signature for her own emails: “I am HIS ✝️”.

 

TD Ready Commitment

Hard to believe that a woman who had distinguished herself by a 25-year career that offered her an executive position with a salary to match would have been unaware, given the experience of the colleague whose misstep she chose to emulate, and could not foresee a company lash-back. A senior executive, after all, is normally expected to support, not defy company rules in any corporation. Following a number of meetings with senior company staff when company policy was emphasized, Ms. Denobrega failed to modify her email in respect of that policy.

 

The inevitable happened. She was fired. She has since filed a statement of claim with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, seeking over $400,000 in damages from her former employer on the basis of wrongful dismissal. The stand she had taken against company policy which she explained "only allowed for gender/sex identification and allowed no room for other identities", might have been her downfall as an employee, but she contends it to have been unfair and not representative of a legal right to fire her, for showing a Christian symbol, rather than a 'them/their'-acceptable symbol.

 

TD Insurance contends their decision to terminate Ms. Denobrega was not based on her creed, age or any other protected characteristic under Canada's human rights legislation. They had just cause to relieve their former vice-president of her position without notice, resulting from her wilful subordination following  repeated warnings for expected compliance, all of which she summarily dismissed. Ms. Denobrega's claim describes informing a human-resources representative of her wish to have pronouns removed from TD's signature lines.

 

When Ms. Denobrega met with her company superior and two representatives of the human resources department, she expressed her opinion that the company review its email signature compliance since it "only allowed for gender/sex identification and allowed no room for other identities". Other, follow-up meetings took place when the TD executive body pursued their demands that their associate vice-president remove her email signature, only to be once again rebuffed.

 

Instead TD Insurance forwarded a general email to all its 10,000 staff relating to the company's policy on email signature standards. The fired former vice-president now seeks compensation in the sum of $235,000 for lost pay and bonuses for a 12-month notice period, along with an additional $210,000 representing punitive damages and human rights violations under the argument that TD's punishment was disproportionate to her 'misconduct'.

 

On their part, TD's defence states that the code of conduct provided to all employees gives warning that any breach could result in discipline, inclusive of employment termination. Its email signature standards quite clearly  prohibit "quotes, taglines, icons, images, slogans or other personal statements". For her lawsuit to be successful, Ms. Denobrega must prove a link between her religious views and the reasons for her termination, in the opinion of seasoned Toronto employment lawyer, Paulette Haynes.  

 

TD Insurance fired Sonja Denobrega after she refused to remove a Christian line from her email signature.  CBC

 

"The bank's defence says that she has not established that causal nexis [link between her religious views and reasons for her termination]."

"[The onus will shift to TD to support its claim for] just cause [termination which allows an employer to fire a worker without paying severance]."

"I always tell my employer clients that it's an uphill battle when you terminate for just cause."

"The misconduct has to be so egregious that it basically breaches the employment contract in a fundamental way; [proving a case is heavily dependent on specific facts]."

Toronto employment lawyer Paulette Haynes