With mental health increasingly at issue in Canadian workplaces, a new decision has just sent a $1-million shockwave across the country’s employment landscape. Employers must take note.
An employee who has spent 16 years building their career suddenly resigns. The employer accepts. The paperwork is done, the position filled and everyone moves on.
Except that years later, the employer finds itself having to pay a human rights award exceeding $1 million.
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That is the striking turn of events in Volpi v. Lifemark Health, in which an Alberta human rights tribunal awarded a former physiotherapist $40,000 for injury to dignity and a staggering $965,338.14 in lost wages, plus interest. The tribunal also ordered the employer to implement an accommodation policy at its clinic.
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The case poses a deceptively difficult question: if an employee makes an apparently unequivocal decision but the circumstances suggest that something may be seriously wrong, when does accepting that decision become a legal risk?
For employers, the wrong answer can be extraordinarily expensive.
The applicant had worked at Lifemark’s Calgary clinic for approximately 16 years and was regarded as an outstanding employee. His supervisor described him as a “superstar.”
The employer knew that he had mental health disabilities, including Bipolar II disorder. Under a previous clinic director, an informal arrangement...
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