A recent case in British Columbia vividly demonstrated how much damage can be awarded, she says.
“In January 2021, the BCHRT [British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal] published a decision in which one complainant received US $ 176,000 in compensation for violating dignity, feelings and self-respect. This is the highest amount that the BCHRT has awarded so far. In addition to personal injury injury, the BCHRT granted $ 761,542 for past and future lost earnings and pensions, and $ 26,655.24 for expenses and payouts. “
Manage discipline
According to McKinnon, “human rights law and human rights discipline” management is another difficult area for employers, and there are some difficult questions employers must ask before going down this path with workers.
“Is there a need to determine whether the behavior is caused in whole or in part by the intellectual disability? Or did the discipline develop completely independently of the intellectual disability, which is often a very difficult question to ask and answer. It is very difficult to tell if an employee is consistently late for work [if] that could be wrongdoing. But if that employee has a very bad depression, that could be why the employee is constantly late, ”she says.
And employers should also know that they can’t just fix potential problems that may arise in the workplace, McKinnon says, because they have a legal obligation when they see something is wrong with an employee.
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