Employer ordered to pay $23,000 for terminating receptionist while she recovered from ovarian cancer surgery.
The complainant, a receptionist at an insurance brokerage, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and required two surgeries.
She informed her employer of her diagnosis and provided medical notes indicating she needed a six-week recovery period.
While she was recovering, the employer hired a permanent replacement.
When the complainant returned to work, she was terminated.
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found that the employer failed to accommodate her disability to the point of undue hardship and unlawfully terminated her employment.
The respondents were ordered jointly and severally to pay $20,000 in general damages for loss of dignity and mental anguish, $3,006.40 in special damages for lost wages, and to undergo human rights training.
Ontario Human Rights Commission and Anne Jackson v. M. Butler Insurance Brokers Ltd. and Gary Butler, 2007 HRTO 5
