The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal’s decision in LaFleche v. NLFD Auto, 2022 BCHRT 88, provides employers with insight into how they should conduct themselves while their employees are on a leave of absence. The Tribunal found that the employer discriminated against an employee who was on maternity leave on the basis of sex and family status, contrary to section 13 of the British Columbia Human Rights Code, and that it also constructively dismissed her. The Tribunal made these findings because the employer significantly altered the employee’s job duties when it unilaterally removed her from the managerial position she held prior to her leave, gave it to her replacement, and did not communicate with the employee regarding her return to work.

Background

In 2015, the employee commenced working for the employer as its social media manager. In 2016, she was promoted to marketing manager, reporting to the general manager (GM). In 2017, the GM retired and another individual took on the GM role.

The employee became pregnant, and the employer hired another person (Replacement) to cover for the employee as marketing manager while she took her maternity leave, which began in May 2018.

In September 2018, the employer again replaced its GM who also supervised the marketing manager role. During the employee’s maternity leave, the new GM and the Replacement worked together on the employer’s marketing strategy. The new GM was happy with the Replacement’s work.

In February 2019,...

Read Full Story: https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/british-columbia-tribun...