The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned a lower court's decision to award a former Honda employee thousands of dollars in punitive damages for being fired without cause.

In a 7-2 decision, the top court on Friday also reduced the amount of severance pay the employee received from 24 months worth of salary to 15 months.

Kevin Keays, who was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome a decade ago, was fired from a Honda assembly plant in Alliston, Ont., in March 2000, after he missed many days of work. MORE