Released on December 19, 2000
Donna Scott, Chief Commissioner and Director of the Saskatchewan Human RightsCommission, today announced the settlement of three disability complaints.
"These cases illustrate the high cost of discrimination for both employers and
employees, a cost that can be avoided with better knowledge of the law,'' Scott
said.
The first settlement involves an employee whose job was terminated when he
attempted to return to work from a disability leave.
Roy Pavely was employed with Auto Clearing (1982) Ltd. when he was diagnosed as
having a disability. In June 1998, he went on disability leave, and in January
1999, his physician cleared him to return to work.
When he attempted to return to his job, he was advised there was no work for
him.
In reaching a settlement, the company agreed to pay Pavely $5,000 as
compensation for injury to feelings and loss of self-respect. The company also
agreed to pay Pavely $22,527.08 as compensation for lost wages and benefits.
The second settlement involves a woman who was terminated from her job because
her disability prevented her from working overtime.
Shawn McKay was employed at Crown Life Insurance as an annuity service
representative. One year after she began work at the company, she was diagnosed
with an illness that required her work week be cut back to three days. She was
given medical approval to return to a five-day work schedule, but prevented
from working overtime.
The company considered overtime a necessary part of employment and gave McKay
three months to find other employment within the company. At the end of three
months, she had not found another position and was subsequently terminated with
a further three months paid salary continuance.
Without admitting liability, the company agreed to pay McKay $1,000 as
compensation for injury to feelings and $6,750 for lost employment earnings.
The third settlement involves a grader operator for the rural municipality of
Leask #464. Morley Rudolph received $3,000 for injury to feelings and the
municipality agreed to provide a copy of the Commission's pamphlet A Guide to
Accommodation to present and future municipal councillors.
Rudolph had been a seasonal grader operator for the rural municipality for more
than a year when he went on sick leave in July 1996. When his physician
cleared his return to work in late fall of 1996, he was told by RM officials he
would not be called back for the following season because of his disability.
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination on the basis of
mental or physical disability. According to Scott, discrimination is often an
indirect result of work environments and policies designed for people who do
not have disabilities.
"If an employee needs some form of accommodation – such as medical leave or
part-time work – the employer must take reasonable steps to provide it unless
those steps would cause undue hardship,'' Scott said. "In the past fiscal
year, the Commission received more complaints about discrimination because of a
physical or mental disability than any other prohibited ground of
discrimination in the Code."
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For more information, contact:
Donna Scott
Chief Commissioner/Director
Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
Saskatoon
Phone: (306) 933-5952
Donalda Ford
Assistant Director
Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-2530