CANADA: Woman with palsy victim of job discrimination, rules tribunal

Former Yaletown Restoration employee says her boss yelled at her in front of co-workers and passed her over for raises, reports Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun COQUITLAM (Vancouver Sun), August 20, 2008: A Coquitlam restoration company discriminated against an employee with facial paralysis when she was prevented from resuming work and was treated poorly once she did return to the job, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. In June 2004, just months after she started working at Coquitlam-based Yaletown Restoration, 62-year-old Adeline McComb contracted Bell's palsy -- the affliction suffered by former prime minister Jean Chretien. Because of symptoms like paralysis on the left side of her face, persistent pain, eye problems and headaches, McComb took time off on employment insurance until October that year, according to the tribunal ruling, issued this week. By that fall, McComb felt she was ready to go back to work, but Yaletown Restoration vice-president Charles Aziz and project manager Christopher French wouldn't let her. The two told the tribunal they were afraid the stress of the job would further damage her health. In February of 2005, after McComb had been without income for several months, Aziz did agree to allow her to start working again. But McComb said Aziz started treating her badly -- passing her over for raises and yelling at her in front of other employees. She told the tribunal she thought these outbursts had to do with her perceived disability and age. In April 2007, after an outburst so bad "she thought he was going to have a heart attack," McComb said she couldn't take it any more and told Aziz she was leaving, according to tribunal documents. Calls to Yaletown Restoration were not returned Tuesday, but in the tribunal documents, Aziz denied yelling at McComb. He and the company took the position that McComb's complaint was a frivolous cash grab. The tribunal disagreed. "It is my view that Mr. Aziz lost confidence in Ms. McComb as an employee, in part because of that perceived disability," wrote tribunal member Kurt Neuenfeldt. Aziz and Yaletown Restoration were ordered to pay McComb $13,800 in lost wages and $5,000 for "injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect." crolfsen@vancouversun.com © The Vancouver Sun 2008