Human rights complaints dismissed; impaired visual acuity not a 'handicap' absent proof of statutory cause.
The complainants applied to be firefighters with the City of Ottawa but were rejected because they did not meet the uncorrected visual acuity standard of 20/20 in each eye.
They filed human rights complaints alleging discrimination based on handicap.
The Board of Inquiry dismissed the complaints, finding that the complainants' impaired visual acuity did not constitute a 'handicap' under s. 9(b)(i) of the Human Rights Code because there was no evidence it was caused by bodily injury, illness, or birth defect.
Yeomans v. Ottawa (City), 1993 CanLII 16447
