addiction

Discusses when addiction is not considered prima facia discrimination by the SCC and the descenting opinions. Reviews the SCC decision on when a zero-tolerance policy will be upheld despite the presence of an addiction.

Discusses leading principals of accommodation law. A review of the legal standard of accommodation and undue hardship. Reviews unions duties in the accommodation process and their potential liabilities. reviews Reviews case law on employees’ duty to participate in the accommodation process and under what grounds the employee can refuse the employer offered accommodation. reviews the duty to accommodate mental health and addiction disabilties and culpable vrs. non-culpable behavior. Brief discussion of perceived disability and drug testing. Reviews case law on employees privacy rights vs.

The article discusses the conceptual challange that addiction and mental health pose in being not immutable, pose for establishing prima facia discrimination and how courts/adjudicators have dealt with it. The article addresses the test to determine indirect discrimination and the need to include indirect discrimination to achieve substantive equality. 

Summary and analysis of decision in Stewart v Elk Valley Coal Corp, 2017 SCC 30; impact on employer's right to take proactive measures in the workplace. 

Seminar paper discussing an employer's role when addressing mental illness and addiction in the workplace; impact of changes to Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act; procedural duty, disclosure, accommodation. 

Comparison between Canadian and Australian discrimination law in addressing addiction as a disability; merely conceptualizing addiction as a disability will not be enough to reduce discrimination faced by addicted individuals, and instead, foundational legal policies neeed to be established; culture of ableism, even within approaches aimed at reducing discrimination altogether, are prevalent and need to be addressed if addiction is to be accommodated appropriately. 

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. 

Summary of Stewart v Elk Valley Coal Corp, 2017 SCC 30; criticism of the court's treatment and limited analysis of drug addiction in legal reasoning.

Debriefs a case were the arbitrator found if there is a nexus between the disability (addiction) and the misconduct, the disability is a factor in the termination and the employer has a duty to accommodate the employee. Discusses case where it was held that the employer had a duty to inquire in respect to the employees change in behaviour.