Misetich: Family Status: Procedural Failures

In Misetich, the Tribunal noted that the applicant had failed to provide sufficient information to the employer at the time accommodation was requested. It observed that the only information given by Ms. Misetich to the Tribunal was that she had to provide evening meals to her mother. There was no other detail given as to why she could not provide evening meals, as she did with lunch.

However, at the hearing, she asserted that there were other factors which required accommodation. ¹ here is no other geographically close family member who can provide care to Ms. Misetich’s mother; · Ms. Misetich and her mother reside in a seasonal community, in the winter months they have no neighbours; · When leaving for the day shift, Ms. Misetich prepared breakfast for her mother, administered her medication and left a cold lunch; · On return from work, Ms. Misetich prepared the evening meal, administered her mother’s medication and assisted her mother with a bath and bed; · Ms. Misetich takes her mother to doctor’s appointments; · Ms. Misetich’s mother has been rushed to emergency several times; · Ms. Misetich’s mother is on seven medications; · English is Ms. Misetich mother’s second language, and she is reverting back to her first language and is becoming forgetful; · Ms. Misetich was concerned that these factors (language and memory) made it difficult for her mother to take her medication safely; · In Ms. Misetich’s mother’s culture having external care is stigmatized. [/efn_note

The Tribunal concluded that had she provided these details, she may well have been successful. Value Village would then have been obliged to accommodate Ms. Misetich to the point of undue hardship.

This was of course theoretical as Ms. Misetich did not communicate this information to Value Village. The Tribunal’s comments and the after the fact evidence synopsis provides a useful illustration for the need for mutual compliance with procedural requirements.

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