The recent decision of Fleming v. Massey raises the very interesting question of whether an injured employee can waive his or her rights under Part X of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On May 2, 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal clarified that an employer who fails to accommodate an employee’s childcare obligations may be found to have discriminated against the employee on the basis of family status: Canada (Attorney General) v Johnstone, 2014 FCA 110 [“Johnstone”].