Employer's restrictive sick leave policy constituted constructive discrimination against an employee requiring surgery for a disability.
The complainant was dismissed from her employment as a legal secretary after requesting two to three weeks of medical leave for a bilateral-reduction mammoplasty to treat virginal breast hypertrophism.
The employer's unwritten policy allowed only five days of sick leave per year and resulted in her termination.
The Board of Inquiry found that her condition constituted a physical disability under the Human Rights Code.
While there was no direct discrimination, the sick leave policy constituted constructive discrimination, and the employer failed to demonstrate that accommodating her absence would cause undue hardship.
The employer was ordered to pay lost wages, general damages, and interest, and to implement a Code-compliant sick leave policy.
Bielecky v. Young, MacNamara, 1992 CanLII 14291
