The Occupational Health and Safety Act may protect employees against retaliation for asserting their rights under that Act, but not for merely sustaining an injury, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has decided.
An employee filed a complaint under section 50 of the OHSA. She asserted that by not giving her the job of Manager of Corporate Learning, the employer retaliated against her because she sustained an injury, and that that retaliation violated the OHSA.
The OLRB stated that even if it were true that the employer retaliated against her for sustaining a workplace injury, "sustaining an injury is not an assertion of a right under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and hence there is no basis for a reprisal complaint.
Section 50 of the OHSA provides that an employer must not dismiss, discipline, penalize or intimidate or coerce a worker "because the worker has acted in compliance with this Act or the regulations or an order made thereunder, has sought the enforcement of this Act or the regulations or has given evidence in a proceeding in respect of the enforcement of this Act or the regulations or in an inquest under the Coroners Act."
None of those circumstances were present in this case. As such, the OLRB dismissed the retaliation complaint.
Krupp v UNIFOR, Local 229, 2015 CanLII 2111 (ON LRB)
For more information, visit our Occupational Health & Safety Law blog at www.occupationalhealthandsafetylaw.com
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