Andrea L. Zwack

The Court dismissed an appeal from Alberta human rights proceedings concerning termination under a safety policy requiring pre-incident disclosure of drug dependence or addiction issues.

A majority held the tribunal reasonably found the employee was terminated for breaching the policy rather than because of addiction, so prima facie discrimination was not established.

Concurring judges would have found prima facie discrimination but still upheld the outcome on accommodation to undue hardship.

The dissent would have allowed the appeal, finding both prima facie discrimination and inadequate accommodation.

The appellants, deaf patients, challenged the failure of British Columbia’s publicly funded health care scheme to provide sign language interpreters where necessary for effective communication in medical settings.

The Court held that although the impugned statutes were not unconstitutional on their face, the Charter applied to hospitals and the Medical Services Commission when they implemented the statutory medicare program.

The failure to provide interpretation where necessary denied deaf persons the equal benefit of the law under s. 15(1) by creating adverse effects discrimination in access to insured medical services.

The infringement was not justified under s. 1 because the government failed to show that a total denial of medical interpretation minimally impaired equality rights.

A declaration was granted, suspended for six months, directing the province to administer the legislation consistently with s. 15(1).