Thursday 6 March 2014

Equal pay awarded to worker who made $1.25 an hour

Equal pay awarded to worker who made $1.25 an hour 

By Karena Walter, The Standard

Terri-Lynn Garrie is photographed at her St. Catharines home on February 14, 2012.  Garrie has a developmental disabiliy and went to the Human Rights Tribunal because she earrned $1.25 an hour or less for 10 years. She won her case against a St. Catharines company but may never see the money.    JULIE JOCSAK/ THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD/ QMI AGENCY.
Terri-Lynn Garrie is photographed at her St. Catharines home on February 14, 2012. Garrie has a developmental disabiliy and went to the Human Rights Tribunal because she earrned $1.25 an hour or less for 10 years. She won her case against a St. Catharines company but may never see the money. JULIE JOCSAK/ THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD/ QMI AGENCY.
           

A St. Catharines woman with an intellectual disability has been awarded 10 years worth of minimum wages after the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal found her $1.25 an hour pay was discriminatory.
And the tribunal went a step further, recommending the Ontario Human Rights Commission determine how widespread the practice is of paying people who have developmental disabilities less than statutory minimum wages.
It asked the commission to make recommendations, if appropriate, to the Ontario government on how to rectify the situation.
“I was thrilled. It’s taken so long to get to this point,” said Marjorie Tibbs, whose 45-year-old daughter Terri-Lynn Garrie was at the centre of the human rights case.
“It’s wonderful that it’s settled now and it won’t happen to somebody else down the road,”
The tribunal ruled in January 2012 that bottling company Janus Joan Inc. of Dunlop Dr. discriminated against Garrie on the basis of disability when she was fired in 2009.
Garrie was awarded $2,678 in lost wages for the 53.5 weeks it took her to find another job as temporary Christmas help at a store. The amount was based on her hourly rate of $1.25.
But the allegation the company paid Garrie less than her non-disabled coworkers was originally determined to be out of the tribunal’s jurisdiction because of the length of time that passed since her first paycheque 10 years earlier.
That was overturned in October 2012 after the Human Rights Legal Support Centre in Toronto argued there was an ongoing violation every time Garrie was paid less than other workers. That would mean her last paycheque fell within a one-year limitation period.
In a March 2013 hearing, the centre argued Garrie should be awarded lost income based on minimum wage — not on the $1.25 per hour — and that she get paid the difference in dollars for her 10 years of work.
In a decision last week, the tribunal agreed, awarding Garrie $142,124 for her employment — the difference between what she should have been paid and what she was actually paid.
It also awarded her $19,613 for lost income after being fired and bumped up the general damages from $15,000 to $25,000 for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect.
“It’s a great outcome,” said Mindy Noble, one of the lawyers from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre in Toronto that argued the case. She said the decision could have a significant impact on other people being underpaid because of their disabilities.
“Even in that workplace, it affected a lot of people and it could be affecting a lot of people throughout the province as well.”
Garrie and her family don’t expect to see any of the money since Janus Joan Inc. has closed.
The company did not participate in any of the tribunal hearings but a representative did write a letter to the tribunal defending its action, saying Garrie wasn’t forced to work there, she was better off for having the job and her mother benefited by not having to care for her for the eight hours a day she worked.
Noble said it’s significant that the tribunal acknowledged the practice was a discriminatory act. She said for a person who’s experienced discrimination, there is value in the acknowledgement that they have experienced discrimination, that it was wrong, that it shouldn’t have happened and that they’re entitled to some sort of compensation.
“Even if Terri-Lynn doesn’t see any money from this depending on what happens next, there could be a significant impact on people with intellectual disabilities throughout the province,” Noble said.
“So I think she can feel pretty good about that, even if she’s not able to collect any compensation.”
Tibbs said her daughter doesn’t have a job right now but may do some volunteering. She said it’s too bad the former company likely won’t have to pay up.
“It would be wonderful if Terri-Lynn came out of it with something, but Terri-Lynn will survive without it.”
karena.walter@sunmedia.ca

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