Asperger’s case cost the region $260K
Legal costs released this week are the result of a five-year Human Rights Tribunal case KITCHENER —
The Region of Waterloo paid lawyers nearly $260,000 to fight a human rights complaint from an employee with Asperger’s syndrome — but says it had no choice but to spend that money.
The legal costs, released by the regional municipality this week, came from a fiveyear Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario case launched by Kelly Groh, a facilities analyst for the region.
In November, Groh — who is still employed by the region — won his legal battle when the tribunal agreed he had been discriminated against because of his disability and ordered the regional government to pay him $10,500.
Groh was seeking $200,000 in damages, compensation for lost wages and benefits and better training for regional staff to deal with employees with disabilities.
He also wanted the tribunal to post a sign in the workplace indicating he had been discriminated against by the region, which was declined.
The case centred on the way Groh was treated during an extended stress leave, and a contentious return-to-work meeting in September 2012, which he says led to him being hospitalized.
The tribunal ruled the region and the union didn’t deliberately discriminate against Groh — but by treating him as “any other employee,” they ignored his unique challenges with social and sensory issues that make him sensitive to noise, bright lights and crowded places.
Ken Seiling, the regional chair, said several factors inflated the region’s legal costs throughout the hearing.
Groh’s union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1656, was also
named in the complaint, which bogged down the proceedings.
“It was an unusual hearing, in that there were actually three parties to the hearing, which required more time,” Seiling said.
“Because of the nature of the concerns, the hearing took much longer and many more days than would normally happen.”
There were 16 days of hearings, far more than typical in a human rights case. The tribunal took frequent breaks because of Groh’s condition.
Seiling said the region’s lawyers tried multiple times to settle the case, but Groh declined.
“We made efforts to attempt a settlement, but were unsuccessful,” Seiling said. “Because of his request ... we were bound to try to defend it.”
Groh’s lawyer, Brian Kelly, said he can’t talk about any settlement discussions that might have gone on. But he said the union and the region did not make any reasonable proposals that would have ended the dispute early. “Neither ... made any offer separately or collectively sufficiently reasonable for Mr. Groh to accept,” he said in an email.
The lawyer criticized the region for spending “scarce” public funds to fight the complaint.
“One cannot lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, both the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1656, spent substantial scarce resources,” only to have both been found guilty of discriminating against his client, Kelly said.
But Seiling said the region had no choice but to defend itself against the complaint, and was concerned about precedence in this case — given that Groh was seeking $200,000.
Groh has said the complaint was never about money, but rather to improve conditions in the workplace for others with invisible disabilities.
While the region said the case will help it better handle employees with special needs, Seiling believes the municipality is already a progressive employer that does its best to work with people like Groh.
“Every event is a learning experience,” he said.
“We always have to be attuned to a variety of disabilities that are in our labour force.”
The regional chair said it’s regrettable the complaint had to lead to such a long legal dispute. “We’ve made every effort to accommodate him,” he said.
“I think we and other employers try to go the extra mile to accommodate people with disabilities, and we continue to do so.
“But when things go before the human rights tribunal, they sort of leave our control.”