Canadian Employment Law Today - sample

Stress from performance warnings not a mental disability Complaints about worker's performance and employer's meetings about them caused her stress but no evidence of disability requiring accommodation BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A British Columbia worker who claimed her employer caused her to develop a mental disability from a toxic workplace and then dismissed her because of that disability has had her claim dismissed by the B.C. Hu - man Rights Tribunal. Tracey Young was a social worker hired by the Vancouver Coastal Health Author- ity (VCHA) in August 2016 to work in a psychiatric ward at a hospital for patients with psychiatric illnesses. e unit to which Young was assigned was for both mild and severe psychiatric illnesses. When she start - ed, her employment was subject to a three- month probationary period. A bad start It wasn't long after Young started at the hospital that her manager and the human resources department were informed of issues with her job performance. Young's co-workers and psychiatrists in her unit reported that Young was unmoti- vated and frequently said she wanted to "change things" on the unit once her pro- bationary period expired. In addition, she wasn't interacting or collaborating well with her co-workers and many believed she didn't like working there. Young herself felt that she was being ex- cluded from the team in her unit — includ- ing being left on an email list — and was be- ing bullied. She thought several co-workers were acting hostile and unfriendly towards her, though she couldn't understand why. After two co-workers bullied her, she start - ed looking at job postings and applying for other jobs. On Oct. 21, 2015, Young attended a "check in" meeting with her manager and the patient care co-ordinator. She told them that she was already looking for employ - ment elsewhere because of the workload and workplace issues she was experiencing. Her manager expressed concerns over her refusal to do certain work, to collaborate with co-workers, and her comments about changing things. Young denied making comments about changing things but said she was justified to refuse certain tasks re - garding patient referrals if she didn't think it was in the best interests of the patient. She also said she wasn't used to perform- ing certain clerical jobs, but they told her everyone was expected to pitch in on pa- perwork for referrals. Young became distressed by the end of the meeting and told the manager and pa- tient care co-ordinator that she felt like she had been "punched in the stomach" and didn't feel safe at work anymore. e man- ager reiterated that the role of the social worker in the unit was to work collabora- tively in a fast-paced environment and she was expected to meet those requirements. After the meeting, the manager and pa- tient care co-ordinator were concerned over Young's ability to manage her workload, her suitability for the social worker positions, and the commitment to it. One week after the meeting, the manager spoke briefly with Young and asked her how she was doing. Young replied that she was doing fine. However, the following week, Young's manager spoke to some of her co-workers who still had issues with her. ey reported that she was still making critical comments about how the unit was operating, she wasn't a team player and she was avoiding working with a particular colleague. She also had a tendency to pass off patient refer - rals to nursing students and other workers in the unit by saying she was too busy. It was also reported that Young was undermining one of the physicians. One co-worker said Young didn't seem happy and she had said she wouldn't be there for long. e manager also heard that Young had said "people with mental illness should not have children" and she was going to make sure a patient who had kids wouldn't see them again. She was judgmental about pa - tients' inability to change and said some had no hope. In addition, she didn't write letters for patients, saying it was outside the scope of her job. e manager decided to meet with Young, an HR representative and a union representative on Nov. 12. e manager reviewed the issues that had been brought to his attention and advised Young that it was within the role of the social worker to complete referrals and not to delegate work to other staff. He also said her various comments about patients and staff and her disrespectful attitude towards co-workers were "unacceptable, unprofessional, and highlighted her questionable judgment." e manager concluded by saying she didn't seem vested in her position and her behaviour was not that of someone who wanted to continue working in that role. According to the manager, Young tried to deflect his concerns and seemed more concerned with which of her co-workers complained about her. She confirmed she had been applying for jobs elsewhere and planned to resign as soon as she found one but denied saying any of the things attributed to her. Employee stressed out by management's concerns Following the meeting, Young claimed to be in "a profound state of emotional dis- tress and reactivity" and felt management was attacking her, despite their claims it 4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CASE IN POINT: ACCOMMODATION AWARENESS OF mental disabilities and the need for employers to accommodate them the same as they would physical disabilities is on the rise. However, accommodation is a co-operative process and when an employee requests accommodation, it doesn't automatically mean the employer has a duty to accommodate. The employee must be able to show she actually has a mental disability requiring accommodation, not just normal workplace stress. BACKGROUND Co-workers reported that the social worker was avoiding paperwork and making inappropriate comments about patients and the workplace

• Cover