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August 16, 2023 - 7:00 PM
A Kelowna worker will have his chance to present a discrimination case to the BC Human Rights Tribunal against his former employer.
Calvin Sargent was significantly injured on the job with Williams Machinery and he alleges he was treated unfairly because the company did not offer him any accommodations to continue his employment in a different role.
In a preliminary decision Aug. 9, the tribunal rejected an attempt by Williams Machinery to have the case tossed after the company argued it did all it could for Sargent before terminating his employment. It said it simply didn’t have a place for someone who couldn’t keep up with the physical labour involved.
Sargent was a service technician required to constantly be pushing, pulling, lifting and using equipment up to 23 kgs and they had no other roles for him.
Sargent was injured in 2017 and after a WorkSafeBC investigation, the injuries were deemed permanent in 2019. The company said it understood Sargent could not return to work so he was terminated without cause.
The company accidentally threw some salt in the wound when his termination letter got caught in the mail. It was issued April 2019 but wasn’t delivered until the end of August 2019. The company argued the physical labour was an occupational requirement, making Sargent eligible for dismissal.
Sargent said he is capable of working in some capacity, just not full capacity and could potentially continue his work with assistance and has identified other positions in the company he could do.
While the tribunal hasn’t made any comment on the strength of Sargent’s case, it dismissed Williams’ application to toss it out.
That means the case will go to a full hearing at the Human Rights Tribunal unless the case is settled ahead of time.
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