Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Bipolar damages upheld

Canadian court rules worker suffered bias

Reprints

OTTAWA—The Ontario Superior Court of Justice's Ottawa Divisional Court upheld an $80,000 judgment in favor of an information technology specialist dismissed from his job just days after disclosing to his employer that he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Information technology specialist Paul Lane was fired from his position at ADGA Group Consultants Inc. in October 2001, four days after informing his manager he had Bipolar 1 Disorder and asking the manager to speak with him or contact his wife if she ever noticed any symptoms of a manic or depressive phase. According to the divisional court's judgment, he had been with the company a total of 10 days.

The divisional court upheld the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal's decision from 2007, which determined AGDA had violated Mr. Lane's right "to equal treatment and freedom from discrimination on the basis of disability." The divisional court further upheld the tribunal's finding that the employer had not adequately established it could not accommodate Mr. Lane's disability without undue hardship.

The tribunal's judgment required AGDA to pay Mr. Lane nearly $80,000 in damages. The Ottawa Divisional Court last month affirmed the amount of damages was appropriate. It also ordered the company to hire a qualified consultant at its own expense to provide training to all employees, supervisors and managers on the obligation of employers to accommodate people with disabilities, particularly those with mental health issues, according to the ruling.

ADGA is seeking to appeal the decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The right to appeal has yet to be granted.

Adga Group Consultants Inc. v. Lane, 2008 CanLII 39605 (ON S.C.D.C.)