ISAC and West Scarborough Community Legal Services are working together to represent a worker who has been wrongfully denied termination and severance pay. This case had to do with a worker’s rights when it is clear that they can no longer work because of a disability.
The worker in this case worked for over a decade as a pastry cook, which is a physically difficult and demanding job. Unfortunately, she was in two separate car accidents very close together. Because of the injuries she sustained in these accidents, she is no longer able to work in any job.
Her workplace did not offer any short or long-term disability benefits, but did allow her to take a sick leave. After almost four years on sick leave, she provided her employer with letters from her doctors to show that she would not be able to return to work in any job. She told her employer that her employment contract was “frustrated” because of her disability. Employment standards law says that when an employment contract is frustrated, the worker is entitled to termination and severance pay. But her employer refused to pay it.
This worker’s case was resolved without the need for a hearing.
-July 2018