Halifax restaurant owner tells of mental health struggles
A Halifax restaurant owner and Master Chef Canada finalist is speaking out about his struggle with mental illness and his treatment by his former employer, the federal government.
Andrew Al-khouri, a Cape Breton native, owns and operates afrite, a hip fusion restaurant on Lower Water Street that opened in late 2017. He opened the restaurant after a successful run on Master Chef Canada in 2015.
Al-khouri also had a 12-year career with the federal government, working as a tax officer with Public Services and Procurement Canada.
During that time, Al-khouri claims, his supervisor would not accommodate his severe anxiety and panic disorder and, even with medical documentation, would not approve sick leave, ultimately forcing him to resign.
“I’ve dealt with (mental illness) my entire life,” Al-khouri said. “I’m a very high-energy person so people see me as a happy-golucky kind of guy most of the time, but what you see on the face isn’t always the case.”
Al-khouri said it was in November 2016 when he, under the advice of his physician, requested an arrangement to work from home for one to two days a week to cope with his illness.
After seven months of waiting, Al-khouri said his request still wasn’t approved.
“I made a grievance saying this is an unreasonable delay and then at the time my doctor said if they’re not doing anything, I need to put you off work; you’re going to have a meltdown,” Al-khouri said.
When he presented his medical note to management, however, Al-khouri said he was denied.
“After I told them what the illness was, they basically scoffed at me and said, ‘You’re ridiculous, you’re not sick. How can you
be sick? You’re the most lively, jokey, centre-of-attention guy,’” he said.
“My manager basically said, ‘I will not approve this, I believe you are faking,’ although he had no real reason to believe that.”
According to Al-khouri, his supervisor said he would consider approving the leave if he could speak to his doctor directly, something Al-khouri wasn’t comfortable with. Instead, he provided another medical certificate with more details about his condition and treatment.
“My manager continued to refuse the medical certificate and also refused to provide me with a record of employment so I could get my EI (employment insurance),” Al-khouri said.
During the time he was off, AlKhouri said, he also felt harassed by his manager, who he claimed would repeatedly send him emails threatening disciplinary action if he did not return to work.
In total, Al-khouri said he was
off for five months without pay before he was forced to resign, despite providing four separate medical certificates.
“I have a mortgage; I was forced to do something,” Al-khouri said. “I was considering opening up a business and I ended up doing it — I opened up my restaurant in December.”
Al-khouri said he filed a grievance with his union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), that has gone all the way to the national level, and said his union “100 per cent” backs him.
Al-khouri said he will continue to stand up for himself and spread awareness surrounding mental illness.
“People need to understand that just because you’re not crying doesn’t mean you’re not suffering from some kind of mental illness,” he said. “And just because you look OK on the face doesn’t mean you don’t go home and shake at night. People don’t see everything.”