News Release Archive
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION--COMPLAINT UPHELD ----------------------------------------------------------------- A board of inquiry has upheld a complaint under the Human Rights Act by Helene O'Quinn against the Worker's Compensation Board. In a far reaching decision, board of inquiry chair Susan M. Ashley has ordered the Workers' Compensation Board to reconsider applications for reinstatement of benefits by Ms. O'Quinn and others whose widows' pensions were terminated when they remarried. Ms. O'Quinn made a complaint under the Human Rights Act on Sept. 2, 1994, alleging that she was discriminated against because of her marital status by the Workers' Compensation Board. Ms. O'Quinn's husband was killed in a fishing accident. She was awarded a widow's pension by the Workers' Compensation Board in 1980. The board discontinued her widow's pension in 1986, when she remarried. In October 1991, the Human Rights Act was amended to prohibit discrimination because of marital status in the provision of services. In October 1992, the Workers' Compensation Act was amended to remove the practice of disentitling widows who remarried. Ms. O'Quinn alleged that she should be able to reopen her claim as of the date when the remarriage clause was removed from the Worker's Compensation Act. The complaint could not be resolved following an investigation and the matter proceeded to a board of inquiry. The Workers' Compensation Board raised objections to the board of inquiry's jurisdiction to hear the complaint. Ms. Ashley heard these objections on June 5, 1995, and rejected them in a decision of July 24, 1995. The Workers' Compensation Board appealed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal in a decision of Dec. 20, 1995. Ms. Ashley heard Ms. O'Quinn's complaint on March 6 and 7, 1996. In her decision she found that nothing in the Workers' Compensation Act prevented the Workers' Compensation Board from reconsidering Ms. O'Quinn's application for reinstatement of benefits, and that the Workers' Compensation Board's failure to do so was discrimination based on her marital status. Ms. Ashley found that the costs of allowing reapplication by Ms. O'Quinn and others in her situation do not, as argued by the Workers' Compensation Board, create a "reasonable limit prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." Therefore, Ms. O'Quinn's complaint was allowed. As a remedy Ms. Ashley ordered the Workers' Compensation Board to develop non-discriminatory criteria for dealing with applications for reinstatement from Ms. O'Quinn and others in her situation, and to submit these criteria to the Human Rights Commission for approval. She ordered that the Workers' Compensation Board reconsider Ms. O'Quinn's application for reinstatement based on these criteria. She further ordered the Workers' Compensation Board to advise all other potential claimants in Ms. O'Quinn's situation that they may apply for reinstatement. -30- Contact: Wayne MacKay or Francine Comeau 902-424-4111 trp May 22, 1996 - 10:46 a.m.