Alberta Tribunal Awards Damages for Discriminatory Dismissal Disguised as “Restructuring”

What Happened? 

After Silliker’s maternity leave ended, she had to take another leave of absence for mental health reasons. Though her disability leave was managed through Suncor’s insurance company, the adjudicator found that there was no doubt that Silliker’s managers at Suncor were aware that she was on leave for mental disability.

The Company claimed that she had lost her job due to restructuring but this was not true. While she was on leave, her duties were redistributed, and since the Company had figured out a way to work without her, she was no longer needed. 

Had this been a bona fide restructuring, as Suncor attempted to claim it was, their actions would not have amounted to discrimination solely for terminating her employment while she was on disability leave due to a larger business plan. However, her job was only redistributed because of her leave for disability. Because her termination was a direct result of her disability leave, this amounts to discrimination. 

To decide general damages, the Tribunal considered the nature of the discriminatory conduct, the duration of the conduct, the damaging impact of the conduct, and the position adopted by the respondent during the proceeding.

Particularly because Suncor (1) refused to even attempt accommodation, and (2) knew there was no work for Silliker to return to when the parties were working on a return-to-work plan, the discriminatory practices were relatively severe. 

In assessing the amount of general damages to be awarded, the Tribunal considered factors such as economic realities are considered. In Silliker’s case, the timing of her termination where she was on mental health leave, had a newborn baby to take care of, and was pregnant again caused identifiable financial consequences for her and her family. 

The Tribunal awarded $40,000 in General Damages for injury to dignity and self-respect.  

The Renumeration Award

The General Damages award was already very high, as the judge noted that there are very few awards in Alberta in excess of $10,000. 

In addition to General Damages, Silliker argued that she was also entitled to lost wages as a result of the termination. Silliker was awarded six months of lost wages, determined from the date of termination to the date she was scheduled to start her next maternity leave, for which she would have been paid through insurance.