Manitoba Tribunal: Firing Health Aide for Alcohol Addiction Is Disability Discrimination

A home care aide who came to work drunk acknowledged her alcohol “addiction.” But a few weeks after signing a last chance agreement promising to abstain at and away from work, the aide was fired based on unconfirmed reports of being drunk in public. The Manitoba Human Rights Board ordered the home to reinstate and pay the aide $10,000 in damages. Alcohol addiction is a “disability” and the home didn’t accommodate it. The home never did an individualized assessment of the aide’s needs. And even though its safety concerns were legitimate, it presumed that abstinence or termination were the only options without considering less drastic alternatives such as closer supervision or medical leave [Horrocks v. Northern Regional Health Authority, MB Human Rights Commission, Sept. 2015].