An Employee With A 14 Year Absence Reinstated With Full Back Pay Plus Interest

In May of 2016, in Fair v Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, 2012 HRTO 350, an Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a Human Rights Tribunal with important implications for employers in relation to the duty to accommodate and the jeopardy of reinstatement.

The Facts

Ms. Fair, who suffered from generalized anxiety disorder, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and held a supervisory position with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board [the "Board"] in regulating hazardous substances, took medical leave in October 2001. By 2003, Ms. Fair indicated that she was ready and willing to return to work, with the condition that she be given a position where she would not be in charge of employees' health and safety or exposed to personal liability (due to the stress caused by such acute responsibility). The Board responded that it could not identify an alternate position to accommodate Ms. Fair and it terminated her employment on July 8, 2004.