After our employer client dismissed its Human Resources Coordinator, she filed a human rights complaint against them, claiming that in firing her, the company had discriminated against her based on a disability. We filed an application on our client’s behalf to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the employee had signed a release (agreeing not to bring legal action against them) and the termination of her employment was not related to her alleged disability. The BC Human Rights Tribunal granted our application and dismissed the former employee’s complaint against our client.
The Tribunal determined that allowing the complaint to proceed would not further the purposes of the BC Human Rights Code in light of the release that the employee had signed. Important to the Tribunal’s decision were its finding that it would not be “unconscionable” to enforce the release and the lack of evidence that the employee was under influence or duress at the time of signing it. Ultimately, the Tribunal concluded that even if the release was not enforceable, the employee’s complaint had no reasonable prospect of success.
To read the full decision in Walters v. Fraserway RV, click here.