Mandatory Retirement For Firefighters

Is it valid?

The BC Human Rights Tribunal has decided to hear a complaint from an on-call firefighter in Chilliwack about his forced retirement at age 60 (news reports claim Mr. Shellard is now 63 years old).

The case is significant for at least two reasons. First, it is a challenge to mandatory retirement in a job that is generally recognized to have extreme physical demands.  Second, the BCHRT refused to be bound by findings of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in similar cases.

The decision in Shellard v. The City of Chilliwack recognized the demands on firefighters, the research showing that firefighters suffer cardiac problems at a significantly greater rate than the general population and that the risk of cardiac arrest increases after age 60, and the high risk to themselves, other firefighters and the public if they suffer a cardiac arrest at a fire scene. But the Tribunal was not prepared to dismiss Shellard's complaint without a full hearing.