Employer discriminated by terminating employee for performance issues that were symptomatic of his known mental health disability.
The applicant, a financial analyst, alleged that his employment was terminated because of his disability (depression and anxiety) and age.
The respondent claimed the termination was solely due to performance issues and compensation, and that the decision-maker was unaware of the applicant's disability.
The Tribunal found that the applicant's disability caused or contributed to the performance concerns (lack of initiative, failure to work collaboratively) relied upon for his termination.
The Tribunal also found it was more probable than not that the respondent knew about the disability prior to termination, as the applicant had placed a memo detailing his condition in his personnel file.
The Tribunal concluded the termination was discriminatory based on disability, but dismissed the age discrimination claim.
The hearing was bifurcated, with remedy to be determined separately.
Graff v. Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Services, Inc., 2014 HRTO 1459
