On behalf of Ridout
Barron posted in
Employment Law on Thursday, January 19, 2017.
Even in 2017, discrimination in the workplace is still a major
problem in Canada. Most Calgary residents probably think of
discrimination in its most obvious forms: gender, sexuality and
race. However, other forms of discrimination exist and are now
being talked about far more freely than they have been in the past.
One such form of discrimination is so-called "family
status" discrimination, in which an employee can face censure
as a result of obligations stemming from caring for ailing family
members.
The legal precedent for family status discrimination comes from
the Misetich decision, in which a woman was fired from her job
after refusing an alternative work schedule that would interfere
with her ability to care for her elderly mother. The woman was
unable to produce legal documentation proving her obligation to her
mother, which was the impetus for her
termination. While the
