Recently, the B.C. Supreme Court upheld a WCAT decision which denied the worker’s bullying and harassment claim. Now, that worker, together with the Community Legal Aid Society (CLAS), has launched a challenge to section 135 of the Worker’s Compensation Act (“Act”) as being discriminatory under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). The worker…
Category: Notable Decisions
Notable New Decisions: Oct 2023
Many thanks to the individuals who contribute to this section, including Kevin Love, Sarah O’Leary, Jim Parker and Jennifer Moreau. Rear 2023 BCSC 151 (August 28, 2023) WCAT Panels cannot discount medical evidence without contrary evidence The B.C. Supreme Court has found that a WCAT panel was “patently unreasonable” in denying a worker’s ASTD claim…
Pickering v. Richmond School District No. 38 2021 BCSC 1497
An employer’s response to bullying and harassment may exclude compensation for an injured worker This decision addressed the exclusion for mental disorder claims caused by a decision of the worker’s employer. The WCAT decision under review found that the employer’s general way of handling, or even not handling, a bullying and harassment complaint was “a…
Rear 2023 BCSC 151: WCAT Panels cannot discount medical evidence without contrary evidence
The B.C. Supreme Court has found that a WCAT panel was “patently unreasonable” in denying a worker’s claim for bi-lateral tendonitis. The decision, Rear v. WCAT 2023 BCSC 151 (August 28, 2023) cites another recent court decision in an ASTD case – McHugh v. ICBC 2023 BCSC 56. In both cases, the Board conducted a very…