Employee terminated while on lengthy medical leave
A British Columbia union has been ordered to pay over $46,000 to one of its own staff members after failing to meet its duty to accommodate him before termination.
In a decision issued Nov. 21, 2025, Arbitrator Koml Kandola found that United Food and Commercial Workers' Union Local 1518 breached its accommodation obligations toward an employee who had been on medical leave for over a year.
The grievor, who had 4.5 years of service with the union, went on leave in February 2021 and was terminated in March 2022. While the union sought medical information throughout the accommodation process, Kandola found it fell short at a critical juncture in early 2022.
When workplace accommodation goes wrong
The employer acted reasonably for most of the accommodation process, seeking additional medical information to understand the employee's restrictions. However, the breakdown occurred in early 2022 when disputes arose over what the medical information required.
Kandola found that "it was reasonable for 1518 to have not returned the grievor to work by the end of 2021" due to ongoing inconsistencies in medical information. The employer's failure came when it did not take the next logical step.
The arbitrator determined that "the prudent way to have resolved the ongoing dispute between the parties as to what the medical information required would have been to seek express, pointed clarification from the grievor's medical practitioners on the specific outstanding issues."
The union also failed to establish that certain requested accommodations would constitute undue hardship.
Why reinstatement was off the table
Despite upholding the termination grievance, Kandola declined to order reinstatement, finding the employment relationship was irreparably damaged. The employee had demonstrated "extreme hostility and animosity toward 1518 and its management."
The grievor found new employment with another union within three weeks of termination. This factor influenced the damages calculation but did not eliminate the employer's liability.
The arbitrator rejected the employer's request to reduce damages based on the employee's conduct, stating this would amount to "double jeopardy" since conduct had already been considered when denying reinstatement.
The price tag of procedural missteps
The union was ordered to pay $42,724 in damages for lost employment plus a 20% top-up for collective agreement benefits, along with $3,956 in notice pay under the collective agreement. Pre-judgment interest was also awarded from the termination date.
Despite finding new employment within three weeks at another union, the grievor still received substantial damages. Kandola noted that "while the grievor obtained employment with another union, the fact is that he no longer has the protection and value of being a member of a union, or of having collective agreement rights. The reality at present is that his workforce is not unionized."
The arbitrator rejected the employer's request to reduce damages based on the employee's hostile conduct, calling it "double jeopardy" since that behavior had already been considered when denying reinstatement. The message for employers: accommodation process failures carry real costs, even when the employee finds new work immediately and even when conduct issues prevent them from returning to your workplace.
