New Brunswick Employers Now Need to Accommodate Family Status
New Brunswick is about to join the bandwagon by adding “family status” as a protected ground in its Human Rights Act. All other jurisdictions in Canada have already made this move.
The Beginning of the End of a Different Legal Test...
Misetich v Value Village Stores Inc., 2016 HRTO 1229 (“Misetich”), a recent decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) that considered an employee’s eldercare responsibilities, casts doubt on the correct legal test to be applied in cases of family status discrimination.
Absenteeism Due to Disability: Has Frustration of Contract Occurred?
Accommodating the extended absence of an employee who is off work due to illness or disability can be a difficult task for employers.
An Employee With a 14 Year Absence Reinstated With Full...
In May of 2016, in Fair v Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, 2012 HRTO 350, an Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a Human Rights Tribunal with important implications for employers in relation to the duty to accommodate and the jeopardy of reinstatement.
Employer’s Denial of Request for Summer Off, a Breach of...
Family status cases continue to work through human rights tribunals across the country.
Breastfeeding and the Duty to Accommodate: Federal Court of Appeal...
In Flatt v Canada (Attorney General), 2015 FCA 250 (CanLII), the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) visited the issue of whether the decision to breastfeed one’s child is protected by human rights legislation.
#familystatus: a Top Trend in 2015 Canadian Employment Law
Given its rise in popularity in Canadian employment law over the past year, it is only fitting that the subject of the last Employment and Labour publication for 2015 consider a recent decision relating to this evolving area of human rights law.
Nova Scotia: Application of Restorative Process to Discrimination Complaint
Since 2012, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has adopted a restorative approach as the first option in addressing human rights complaints. If a complaint is referred to a Board of Inquiry, parties have the option to either proceed to a traditional hearing, or agree to a Restorative Board of Inquiry process.
Termination For Drug Impairment Is Not Discriminatory
In a recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal, Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp., 2015 ABCA 225, it was held that the termination of an employee who tested positive for cocaine in a post-incident drug test was not discriminatory.
Alberta Human Rights Tribunal Finds Employer Discriminated based on Family...
The complainant, Leah Clark, filed a human rights complaint against her employer Bow Valley College alleging discrimination on the ground of family status contrary to the Alberta Human Rights Act. Ms. Clark, who was a nursing instructor, requested and was approved for maternity leave from February 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011. Ms. Clark went on approved sick leave in November 2009. Her child was born on January 2, 2010, almost seven weeks premature. After the child was born, the parties did not communicate about the start or end date of Ms. Clark’s leave.