In Tofflemire v. Metro (Windsor) Enterprises Inc., the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario examined the efforts made by a food and drink services company to accommodate a long-serving employee upon his return-to-work after having a heart transplant. The Tribunal determined that the company's efforts were woefully inadequate and awarded damages to the employee as a result.
The Facts
Mr. [...]
Human Rights Law in Canadian Workplaces
Category Archives: Disability
Lack of accommodation on return to work has food service company eating crow
Fact versus fear: how employers should respond to H1N1 in the workplace to avoid human rights violations
Many of you will have heard about the story that hit the news last week of a Manitoba man who was barred from patronizing a restaurant in Seven Sisters, Manitoba because his wife had been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu. The story broke on Richard Cloutier's show on CJOB radio and I was fortunate enough [...]
Twitter Talk – August 24, 2009
I'm thankful I was able to get out with my family yesterday and enjoy our one whole day of summer yesterday! (We almost didn't recognize the blue sky and sun when it showed up in the morning). Today, we got hit by a thunderstorm which had me wondering if we were going to leave the [...]
Interview: Impact of Ontario accessibility standards on delivery of training in the workplace
I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed for the July 2009 issue of the OHSCompliance and EHSjustice newsletter (a Canadian publication addressing Environmental, Health and Safety News and Legislation which you can find at www.ecolog.com). The focus of the article was on how the standards currently being developed pursuant to the Accessibility for Ontarians with [...]
Having a process AND following it key to meeting duty to accommodate
In the course I teach for the Manitoba Human Rights Commission on “The Duty to Accommodate in the Workplace”, I spend a good chunk of time talking about how important it is for employers to implement a policy/process in their workplaces establishing how they will respond to requests for accommodation by employees. In particular, I talk [...]
New job site focuses on connecting workers with disabilities and diversity-seeking employers
The Canadian Abilities Foundation has announced the launching of a new online job board at jobs.abilities.ca. The job board is the result of a strategic partnership with Workopolis.com , and, according to the CAF's news release, is unique in Canada due to its specific focus on connecting prospective employees who have disabilities with employers who have an interest [...]
Employer terminates disabled employee before union protection could be gained
In a March 9, 2009 decision, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruled that Norwex Civil Contractors Inc. discriminated against Chris Mills on the basis of disability. In particular, the Tribunal concluded that Mr. Mills, who was actually terminated twice by Norwex, was ultimately fired the second time to prevent him from becoming a member [...]
