Ambulance Service Failed In Duty To Accommodate - Manager Also Personally Liable

The BC Ambulance Service failed in its duty to accommodate a paramedic who could no longer palpate a pulse because of his multiple sclerosis. The employee's manager was also held personally responsible.

That was the decision of the BC Human Rights Tribunal after the employer had won an earlier case on judicial review. We reported on the judicial review in an earlier post because it established the important principle that the duty to accommodate does not include an independent procedural duty. The matter was sent back to the Tribunal to reconsider, and with that second look, the result is worse for the employer and the manager.

The Tribunal determined that the disabled employee could have been accommodated as a "Driver Only" and "Special Driver Only" without undue hardship. Even though the Ambulance Service seeks to have both paramedics in each ambulance to be fully qualified, the fact is that there are 135 "Drivers Only" out of 2,500 part timers. The Tribunal