Duty to Accommodate

Official Abstract: "The focus of this article is mental health and workplace disability discrimination in the UK. The article will look at a number of ways that disability discrimination in the UK could be developed to the advantage of people with mental health problems, through an examination of the legislation and through case analysis.The issues that are raised by disability discrimination on the ground of mental health are pertinent to all legal systems that have enacted laws to try and protect people suffering from disability discrimination.

The author criticises the SCC finding that the manner the employee was terminated, in which the employer chose to stop accommodating the employee’s disability, did not constitute discrimination, despite the lower courts finding of bad faith. The SCC affirms that a breach of the human rights code can not constitute an independent actionable cause of action. The Court restricts the use of bad faith damages in a wrongful dismissal cases.

A philisophical discussion of the market influence on the duty to accommodate. A useful discussion of the standard for an employer to establish BFOR. Discusses analysis to determine reasonable accommodation. Discusses how certain decisions of the SCC have moved towards acknowledgment of the social model of disability. 

Discussion of alcohol dependence and obesity as disabilities; forms of accommodation afforded to individuals with these conditions; comparative law of Canada, UK and Australia; affect of alcohol addiction and obesity on workplace organization; random workplace testing for alcohol. 

Discussion prepared for the Ontario Bar Association Institue 2018, Exploring the Evolving Definition of Disability and Evidence to Support It. Reviews decision of Stewart v Elk Valley; addiction (including both substance use and behavioural matters) is accepted as mental illness.