Canada
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Quebec tribunal awards $12K to worker fired for trying to book off sick

The employer tore up the doctor's note and tossed the crumpled remnants at the employee before telling her she was out of a job.

Health care workers of Jacobi Medical Center in New York City hold a rally against a new paid sick leave policy in April 2020.
Health care workers of Jacobi Medical Center in New York City hold a rally against a new paid sick leave policy in April 2020. Photo by ANGELA WEISS /AFP via Getty Images

Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered an employer to pay more than $12,000 to a housekeeping worker who was fired on the spot after she said she was taking a sick leave and produced a doctor’s note to support her decision.

The woman’s employer tore up the doctor’s note and tossed the crumpled remnants at her before telling her she was out of a job.

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The woman filed a complaint with the province’s Tribunal administratif du travail, arguing she had been fired for exercising her rights under the Labour Code to book off sick. Her doctor had said she needed four weeks off.

The employer did not show up for the tribunal’s hearing and did not present any defence against the complaint.

That absence led the tribunal to conclude “the plaintiff was fired because she told her employer she would be absent from work for health reasons.”

The tribunal rescinded the woman’s dismissal and ordered the employer to rehire her “with all her rights and privileges” within eight days of being informed of its ruling.

It ordered the employer to pay the woman $12,528 within the eight-day delay to compensate her for lost salary, including interest.

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