Unreasonable and NOT Accommodating
- aknowlton
- Sep 9, 2022
- 6 min read
From the time we are small we start dreaming about what we will be when we grow up. We're still too young to fully be able to understand the role that labour and employment will play in the success of our adult lives; but we know that having a job is part of being "grown."
Until recently I was employed in a field broadly described as "social services." I chose a career that earned me a decent income while also providing me the outlet for social contribution that I needed to stay inspired.
Although I ended up in the social services, it was not how I imagined my dream job as a child.
A million years ago, when I was a little girl, my dad and I used to read the National Geographic Magazine together. It was our weekend ritual. I'd get dressed in my fuzzy jammies and we'd split an ice cold can of Coke. Cuddled up beside him we'd travel the world together discovering exotic cultures and exploring places lost to time.
I found my love of history in those moments. Before I was five, I decided I was going to be an archaeologist when I grew up. For dress-up I'd don a fedora and pretend to be Indiana Jones. Later I got my 8 year-old hands on a pith helmet and I would pretend to be Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon alternatively. My favourite stuffie had the honour of playing the boy-King Tut.
Other kids had birthday parties at McDonald's; I asked my mom to take me to the Royal Ontario Museum so I could see the mummies and explore the Ancient Roman statues. While some of my peers heros were Batman, the X-Men or Super Mario for Halloween or during pretend play I was Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass. I even did my first ever essay in grade three on Howard Carter and the discovery of King Tut.
My entire secondary school life was laser focused on getting the grades needed to be admitted to Wilfred Laurier University in Kitchener-Waterloo to major in Near Eastern Archaeology. In my last year of highschool my GPA fell short by 8% to make the cut. Instead of giving up, I sucked up my pride and took a "victory" lap. Although I had other options, having been accepted to Laurentian University and Trent University respectively, I was determined to see my dreams to fruition. Repeating the year paid off- I was accepted into my program at last and I could see my lifelong dream of being an archaeologist take form.
Sadly, jobs in Egyptian archaeology are few and far between. This was a fact I discovered at the same time my GPA took a nosedive thanks to my abysmal grade in biblical Hebrew. And thus my foray into social and community development in Indigenous communities was born.
John Lennon is quoted as saying, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”
Throughout my early adult life I flitted from one contract to the next, always working in the social services. Always in a "helper" or "giver" position. And mostly working within Indigenous Organizations.
It is not lost on me that I write this blog coming up on Canada Day. And the safety and privilege that prevails upon me as a Canadian citizen is something that I try to not take for granted.
I've had my moments of workplace embarrassment. An accidental email with an unedited comment here, a verbal slip-up in a meeting there. Once I dropped a case file standing before the Justice of the Peace in open court. I bent at the waist to pick it up and a wee whiney fart echoed throughout the din of the afternoon courtroom.
My love of Panara's broccoli and cheddar soup had been my undoing and my lactose intolerant body had betrayed me!
Even in the midst of Fart-gate 2018, I held my dignity intact and gathered my pride around me like armour. I handed my paperwork to the nearest legal assistant and walked out of the room with a muttered excuse about creaky benches and hightailed it out of there.
Cheese induced flatulence aside, I'm very proud of my employment record. I know I did a lot of good in my role over the years and I was blessed to work with some amazing people.
November 23, 2019 was the day I left work feeling really unwell. I went to ER in the city I worked in to get checked out. The next day following a barrage of tests and an admittance, I was told that I was in End-Stage Renal failure. Shocked, I asked what that meant; the answer that followed changed the trajectory of my life forever.
A patient with End-stage kidney failure cannot live without regular dialysis. Depending on the level of patient kidney function that means anywhere from 2-4 days of dialysis for 3-4 hour sessions weekly. Forever.
Long story short was I was dying.
Scary revelations for a 39 year old mother of two special needs kids under 11. Or anyone for that matter. I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks until stable.
After being discharged I returned to work with a day. I then had to take a day off to have day surgery to have a temporary chest catheter installed so I could receive dialysis.
Throughout this ordeal I was providing updates to my boss and ensuring the proper medical documents were provided to my employer. I submitted an official request for disability accomodations at the beginning of December. On December 18th, the day before our last day of work prior to a two week paid holiday shutdown I was given layoff papers and told I had the option of taking short-term (and eventually long-term) disability or I would be terminated.
Officially our Executive Director cited "undue" hardship as the reason my employer refused my request for accommodation. My requests had been minimal and easily accommodated within my former workplace.
The next day my coworkers and I were due our Christmas bonuses ($500). I never received my bonus. Despite my perfect employment record. I also was laid off without pay. So the two week break that was supposed to be paid meant I was totally broke, newly dying and had no one to appeal to for paperwork for over 2 weeks.
Complaints were filed with the Board of Directors of my former work, with the Ontario Labour Board and Human Rights Tribunal.
The Board agreed I shouldn't have been forced to LTD. and said I could go back to work; happy with a resolution I thought: problem solved. That evening I was contacted by a person who was in my former bosses inner circle. They told me that my boss had intimated to them that should I forvemy way back into my position she was going to fire me on the grounds that I had taken too many unapproved sick days during my hospitalizations.
Feeling unsure about my precarity I spoke with the Labour Board to see if such a termination would be legal. And guess what? It was. I could complain and maybe win a case for constructive dismissal; but the best I'd walk away with is two weeks pay.
I submitted my case to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and I was validated with being told I had a solid claim to human rights violations. My caseworker cautioned that resolution would be a lengthy and difficult process; I was looking at a minimum of 2.5 - 3 years before my case would go before the tribunal court. During that time at best I could expect to receive ODSP.
Defeated and exhausted I relented in my quest for moral victory and accepted the begrudgingly offered lifeline that was workplace disability benefits.
Broke at Christmas and betrayed by an employer I gave 150% of my energy to, I became angy and bitter. Then depressed. I'd say I was clinically depressed for the better part of 6 or 7 months.
The thing that snapped me out of it was the sudden and tragic passing of a close friend. I became motivated to live life again. But my trails were far from over.
Those stories will keep for another day.
Canadians exist under the false impression that many "rights" (human, labour etc.) Are deeply protected. Sadly there are many exploitable loop holes that allow employers and institutions to practice discriminatory actions against those who are facing precarity and in need of support.
The principal of undo hardship is a caveat in Ontario Disability Employment Duty to Accommodate law, that in my humble opinion- has become a bad employer's get out of jail free card.
In my case, this fact was compounded by how registered charities/non-profits are governed by the province. And the whole situation surrounding seeking legal sanctions was direly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
My suggestions to anyone facing chronic health concerns in the workplace; just in *case* you find yourself facing a disability claim:
1) If you are able, consult a lawyer who practices Employment law.
2) Call the Labour Board and/or the Human Rights tribunal and request support and/or file a grievance. This step can be daunting but can be rewarding. It does take a lengthy process and there is a waiting period before resolution.
3) Make your concerns known via Board of Directors, advisory committees advocates etc.
4) Know your limits. Sometimes life is unfair and shitty. The quest for justice can become consuming and affect your mental health and quality of life. It's okay to walk away when you need to.
More on Ontario workplace duty to accommodate disability needs
Well written. You might perhaps consider trying to write to supplement your income. Take care.