Grey: Blog Post/Commentary

Court awarded damages for breach of human rights in addition to damages for failure to provide reasonable notice. Held that the employees injury was at least part of the reason for termination and therefore the employee had been discriminated against  as well the employer was disingenuous at times failing in its duty to act fairly in dismissing an employee.

The Board of Inquiry held that on-call weekend and overnight work was a bona fide occupational requirement and undue hardship is met, where the employer has made a good faith effort to accommodate the employee. The employee's proposed accommodation to his work schedule was found to be too great a burden on other teammates and the employers need to manage the workforce. 

The court held the employer could conclude there was no reasonable likelihood of the employee returning to work within a reasonable period of time, based on the extension of Long Term Disability  Benefits. Being on Long Term Disability Benefits does not preclude an employee from being terminated for being absent.

Article briefly describes the facts in a seminal case on harassment and poisoned work environment. Discusses vicarious liability of the company for a manager's harassment of a deaf employee, compounded by the fact that the manager was the guiding mind of the corporation. Article notes that this is the first known civil case to apply Human Rights Code damages in addition to civil damages.

The article provides a useful canvass of the junction of long term disability insurance and human rights obligations. It points out insures duties and potential grounds of possible liability (breach of contract in the accommodation process, participation or complicity in discrimination, breach of the duty to act in good faith). 

Summary of Stewart v Elk Valley Coal Corp, 2017 SCC 30; criticism of the court's treatment and limited analysis of drug addiction in legal reasoning.

Debriefs a case were the arbitrator found if there is a nexus between the disability (addiction) and the misconduct, the disability is a factor in the termination and the employer has a duty to accommodate the employee. Discusses case where it was held that the employer had a duty to inquire in respect to the employees change in behaviour.

Discusses the rare circumstances when Charter remedies are available at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Article discusses the high threshold for exemptions to filing an application beyond the limitation period and some recent exceptions to the high threshold.