Canadian Employment Law Today

June 12, 2019

Focuses on human resources law from a business perspective, featuring news and cases from the courts, in-depth articles on legal trends and insights from top employment lawyers across Canada.

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PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com Rehiring sexual harasser constructively dismisses victim Continued employment of harassment victim 'intolerable', but employer didn't intentionally cause her PTSD and depression BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO employer constructively dismissed a worker when it rehired a former manager who had sexually harassed the worker years earlier, but it didn't intentionally cause the worker's PTSD and depression that stemmed from the hiring decision, according to Ontario courts. e worker was an employee of Tbaytel, a telecommunications company operating in under Bay, Ont., that is owned by the municipality. She was hired in the late 1980s when the company was called the under Bay Telephone Company and its workers were direct employees of the city. In the 1990s, while the employer was still the City of under Bay, the worker's super- visor sexually harassed her and other em- ployees in the city's telephone department. e city investigated the allegations against Worker left fuming after sick leave Worker faced off against boss over exhaust fumes in offi ce; worker claimed unjust dismissal, company claimed resignation BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A NEW BRUNSWICK worker who expe- rienced health issues due to exhaust fumes coming into her trucking company's offi ce was surprised to fi nd she had been replaced when she came back from sick leave. e company said she had resigned because of her health issues, but an adjudicator dis- agreed and pegged the company as termi- nating the worker's employment. Alternate Waste Management (AWM) is a trucking company based in Minto, N.B. e company's business includes transport- ing garbage, peat moss, rubber, and other general goods to destinations within and outside of New Brunswick, and it operates mainly out of a large building that includes four service bays for AWM vehicles and an administrative offi ce. Susan Barton, 45, was hired by AWM in July 2016 to be the offi ce manager, report- ing to the president and working alongside the operations manager, performing various administrative duties. e offi ce was in the facility adjacent to the vehicle service bays, so frequently the noise from the bays from vehicles and tools made it loud in the offi ce. Soon after she began working with AWM, Barton discovered the noise from the ser- vice bays became unpleasant over the course of the workday. In addition, exhaust fumes from the vehicles seeped into the offi ce through the doors, causing her discomfort. Barton tried to shut the offi ce door when the fumes were bad, but she believed truck June 12, 2019 Move up the ranks frees worker from original termination notice limit pg. 3 Promotions, increased responsibility and pay make provision no longer fair No discrimination against worker with disability who quit pg. 4 Employer implemented accommodation but worker became impatient and quit EMPLOYER on page 6 » CREDIT: ANDREY_POPOV/SHUTTERSTOCK Ask the Expert pg. 2 Requesting an independent medical examination with Tim Mitchell WORKER'S ILLNESS on page 7 »

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