N.S. Human Rights Commission orders Environment Department to pay damages

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has ordered the provincial Environment Department to pay damages after it discriminated against an employee with physical disabilities.

A new ruling from the commission says the department did not accommodate the employee, who suffered from chronic pain stemming from two car accidents, when she returned to work in 2012.

The commission has ordered the department to pay Sandra Wakeham $51,000 for loss of past income and $35,000 in general damages.

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The commission’s ruling says Wakeham started working for the Environment Department as an administrative clerk in 1991.

However, she was on disability leave for extended periods of time after car accidents in 1999 and 2005.

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The commission says the department failed to accommodate Wakeham after she returned to work in February 2012, when she was called into an unexpected meeting and placed on an attendance management plan.

Wakeham has been on long-term disability since March 2012.