It’s unlikely a Federal Court of Appeal decision siding with a Pearson airport customs officer who was denied the set schedule she needed to work around child care will act as a catalyst toward sweeping changes for all working parents, Toronto employment lawyer Doug MacLeod tells CityNews.
“Some people are going to be worried about the floodgates argument – that this is going to severely change work scheduling in the workplace – and I don’t think that it will,” MacLeod, principal of MacLeod Law Firm, says on the broadcast.
The court recently upheld an earlier Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision finding the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had discriminated against employee Fiona Johnstone based on her family status, the report says. Johnstone had asked for fixed shifts so she could arrange for daycare, and eventually agreed to three 10-hour shifts per week at part-time hours, the article continues.
Johnstone complained to the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the tribunal awarded damages for lost benefits and pension, and after the Federal Court upheld that decision, the CBSA appealed, CityNews reports, noting the case could makes its way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
