City loses human rights case to former employee
Disabilities Council says ruling brings to light employer's responsibility to accommodate caregivers of children with special needs
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The City of Yellowknife in 2012 discriminated against and failed to accommodate an employee who had requested a summer off to be able to care for a child with special needs, the NWT Human Rights Arbitration Panel ruled last month.
The NWT Human Rights Arbitration Panel ruled last month the City of Yellowknife was discriminatory by failing to accommodate a mother requesting a summer off to care for a child with special needs. - NNSL file photo |
The ruling by adjudicator Sheldon Toner is strongly worded at points about the city's response to the request from its then-employee.
"The city's managers failed to appreciate the legitimate reasons for the complaint's rejection of its proposed schedules, because again they failed to move past assumptions and appreciate the actual circumstances," Toner's decision states.
The unnamed complainant worked for the city part-time as a cashier-receptionist before being promoted to bookings clerk in 2010. The woman had requested the summer of 2012 off to care for her son diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and provided letters from doctors and others backing up the request.
The city said no, instead asking her to work nights and weekends so she could have days off.
Summer camps weren't an option for her son since the level of care needed wasn't available. The child needed, according to evidence from Dr. Nicole Radziminski, a routine and proximity to "people he is comfortable with and who are capable of managing his needs."
During the summer of 2011, the woman had the school break off through a combination of annual leave and leave without pay. The city filled her role with a summer student which the ruling states resulted in numerous errors.
When an agreement couldn't be reached for the summer of 2012, she resigned and subsequently filed a complaint that led to a hearing with the panel in November of last year.
Denise McKee, executive director of the NWT Disabilities Council and a mother of a child on the autism disorder spectrum, said employers have to do more to accommodate employees who are caregivers of children with complex needs.
"I think when employers take a look at things, they shouldn't be considering the least they can do to accommodate employees," she said.
The Disabilities Council wrote a letter in 2012 backing up the city employee's request for time off.
"Obviously we're very happy with the decision because it brings into light what 'accommodate' really looks like," McKee said Thursday.
The ruling declared that the lack of willingness to consider different arrangements was on the part of the city, not the employee.
"The search for accommodation did not fail because the complainant would accept one and only one accommodation," Toner wrote at the end of the decision.
"It failed because the (city) neglected to take a remedial approach and became entrenched in its refusal to accommodate."
The city declined an interview request.
"We will review the decision with our legal counsel and also review the process regarding whether to make an application for judicial review," stated spokesperson Nalini Naidoo in an e-mailed statement. "At this time we can't comment any further."
The ruling dated April 13 states the two sides have 30 days to decide on an appropriate remedy.
McKee said she hopes the city takes the high road, given the four-to-five year process the family has already gone through.
-please see related story, page 11
