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ARTICLE · 04 AUGUST 2009

Employer´s Obligation To Accommodate Disabled Employees

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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On June 9, 2009, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal rendered its most recent decision “Kerr v. Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) (No. 4)”, addressing an employer’s obligation to accommodate disabled employees.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Shelley-Mae Mitchell
Shelley-Mae Mitchell
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On June 9, 2009, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal rendered its most recent decision Kerr v. Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) (No. 4),1 addressing an employer's obligation to accommodate disabled employees. Once again, the case demonstrates the difficult onus on an employer to show it has accommodated an employee to the point of undue hardship.

This is a very complicated area of law, as shown by the almost 200-page decision, and the fact that the hearing took 30 days over a two-year period. Ultimately, the Tribunal found against the employer on the basis that it had not properly accommodated the disabled employee.

The Facts

The employee, Linda Kerr, had been employed by Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. (the "Employer") for 10 years when she was diagnosed with bi-lateral posterior sub-capsular cataracts. At the time, she was told her vision would deteriorate and she would have very little or no sight within two years time. Immediately following her

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