Tribunal rules pregnancy a factor in hotel housekeeper's dismissal

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the Best Western in Valemount to pay a former housekeeper almost $4,500 after finding the woman's pregnancy was a factor in the decision to lay her off.

Alicia Hill started work at the hotel on Nov. 14, 2014 and was trained by supervisor Tracey Steenman to clean bathrooms, the decision says. A week later, Hill discovered she was pregnant. The smell of the cleaning chemicals nauseated her, especially in confined spaces, so she took the matter up with Steenman, who asked her to get a doctor's note. In a note dated Dec. 9, a doctor declared Hill unfit to work until Jan. 5.

When Hill sent Steenman a copy of the note by text message on Dec. 12, Steenman responded that her boss had decided to lay Hill off.

“K but we have. To put csuse (sic) of being pregnant,” Steenman wrote in a text message that was entered into evidence at the hearing.

Hill said she had hoped to continue at the hotel doing housekeeping work that didn't involve chemicals, such as making beds and doing laundry. The following February, she asked Steenman about applying for a job the hotel posted looking for bed strippers, and was told the hotel had no such opening.

Steenman said she did not return Hill to work because of her high-risk pregnancy. She testified that she believed Hill was only capable of doing light duties and that all of the remaining housekeeping tasks were not considered light duties.

When Hill received her Record of Employment, it stated she had quit.

“I find that the ROE inaccurately reports how Ms. Hill's employment ended,” tribunal member Diana Juricevic wrote in her decision, released Tuesday.

Juricevic found the hotel and Steenman discriminated against Hill on the basis of sex, and ordered them to pay Hill $1,960 for lost wages and $2,500 for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect.