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Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canad ad a ian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
February 28, 2018
Fired worker gets $30,000 in aggravated
and punitive damages for wrongful dismissal
Employer terminated worker instead of investigating harassment
complaint; employer's conduct aggravated worker's depression
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ONTARIO employer must pay more
than $45,000 to a short-term former em-
ployee with depression who suff ered ha-
rassment at work and was terminated after
complaining about it.
Wendy Horner was hired by Superior
Coatings, a paint store in under Bay, Ont.,
in 2016. At the time of her employment,
Horner was being treated for depression.
e treatment included a prescription for a
low-dose antidepressant she received in July
2016. Horner told her supervisor but no one
else at the store.
Shortly after Horner was began working
at the store, a male co-worker began acting
rude to her and, according to Horner, "rou-
tinely belittled" her. e harassing behaviour
took place often when they were alone, but
also in front of other people.
On one occasion in December 2016, the
co-worker elbowed Horner on purpose
when she tried to move behind him in a
Policy violation, not disability,
reason for worker's fi ring
Company accommodated disability by permitting absences when necessary,
but didn't have to accommodate worker's failure to follow reporting policy
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
THE ONTARIO Human Rights Tribunal
has upheld the dismissal of a worker who
suff ered from kidney stones because the
dismissal was for his failure to follow the
procedure for reporting his absences, not
the absences themselves.
Nicholas Rajic started working for Omega
Tool Corporation, a company that engineers
and manufactures plastics tooling based in
Oldcastle, Ont., on Nov. 30, 2015. On his
fi rst day, he attended an orientation with
a human resources assistant where he re-
viewed the employee handbook including
the company's attendance policy.
e attendance policy stated that Omega
expected employees "to be at work every
day, on time, as scheduled." However, if em-
ployees were unable to start work at their
normal starting time, regardless of the rea-
son, they were required to notify their man-
CREDIT:
CONSTANTIN
STANCIU/SHUTTERSTOCK
Mentally and physically troubled
worker didn't mean to quit pg. 3
Worker felt frequent absences and
medical issues made it diffi cult
but wasn't thinking clearly
B.C. arbitrator sets aside random
drug and alcohol testing in coal
mines pg. 4
Company couldn't prove workplace
problem with drugs and alcohol
EMPLOYEE on page 6 »
WORKER ENTITLED
on page 7 »
ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2
Asking questions about criminal
charges and convictions
with Colin Gibson
