A Quebec labour tribunal has sided with an employer who refused a woman’s request to work from home on the day her cat died.
Chantal Dumais filed a complaint alleging she was forced to leave her job in 2015 due to various incidents of alleged psychological harassment.
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She says in an interview one example was when she wasn’t paid after staying home from the office one day after the sudden death of her cat, Juliette.
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Dumais told her employer she was too upset to come to work after finding her beloved pet dead, but says she still made calls from home.
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Court documents state the Montreal-area resident left the job a short time later, soon after learning she had not been paid for the day in question.
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But the tribunal ruled that nothing in Quebec’s labour laws permits a salaried employee to miss work following the death of a pet.
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Tribunal Judge Sylvain Allard also concluded that Dumais quit of her own accord and that her employer’s actions did not constitute psychological harassment.
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