The employer never responded to his investigation requests, then declared the contract over
A pathologist who repeatedly reported a colleague's threatening and abusive behaviour took medical leave on his physician's advice, had his contract end without renewal after VIHA failed to respond to his concerns, and was forced to relocate across British Columbia to continue practising.
In a decision dated April 13, 2026, Justice Basran of the B.C. Supreme Court found that the WCAT Vice Chair's determination that the claims were based on personal injury as defined by the Workers Compensation Act was not patently unreasonable, despite the petitioner framing the dispute as breach of contract.
Dr. Aref Tabarsi worked as a pathologist at Campbell River General Hospital from 2005 under a clinical service contract with North Island Pathology, part of Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). In 2013, VIHA appointed a second pathologist, referred to as Dr. R., and interpersonal disputes soon followed.
The court noted that "Dr. Tabarsi made several complaints that Dr. R. engaged in a course of conduct that he found aggressive, verbally and emotionally abusive, and threatening." He raised these concerns with VIHA on several occasions in 2019 and 2020.
VIHA did not respond to Dr. Tabarsi's requests for information regarding steps taken by VIHA to investigate and address his complaint of workplace harassment and bullying.
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...