Dental assistant fired because she was pregnant awarded $20,000 and employer ordered to develop a human rights policy

Mannen v. Dr. Monika Spolia Dentistry Professional Corporation, 2019 HRTO 774

Ms. Mannen was hired as a dental assistant by Dr. Spolia on March 27, 2017. On June 27, 2017, Ms. Mannen found out she was pregnant. On July 10, 2017 she decided to inform her employer of her pregnancy. On July 18, 2017 Ms. Mannen was fired, after having trained her intended replacement.

Ms. Mannen filed an application at the HRTO alleging Dr. Spolia asked her not to get pregnant when she was hired and made disparaging comments after she informed her of her pregnancy. She also argued that Dr. Spolia fired her as a result of her pregnancy. Dr. Spolia argued that Ms. Mannen abandoned her employment because she was upset with a performance review.

The HRTO found the evidence of Ms. Mannen more credible. The HRTO found that, when Ms. Mannen told Dr. Spolia on July 10, 2017 that she was pregnant, Dr. Spolia responded by shaking her head and muttering: Why does this keep happening to me? Dr. Spolia asked Ms. Mannen if she was happy and whether she had decided to keep the baby. Dr. Spolia also promised that her pregnancy would not affect her job.

On July 17, 2017, Ms. Mannen was told to train another dental assistant who had just been hired. The next day, about 15 to 20 minutes after starting her shift, the office manager asked Ms. Mannen to come into the office. The office manager advised her that this was her last shift and gave her a letter of termination.

Ms. Mannen immediately started looking for a new job and was able to find a new position by September 5, 2017.

The Tribunal found:

Ms. Mannens pregnancy was a factor in Dr. Spolias decision to terminate her employment;

that there was no credible explanation for the sudden decision to advertise and hire a new dental assistant and the hiring of a new dental indicated that Dr. Spolia had decided to terminate Ms. Mannens employment; and

that Dr. Spolia had warned Ms. Mannen against becoming pregnant shortly after the Ms. Mannen started working and then showed her displeasure upon being advised of her pregnancy.

The Tribunal ordered Dr. Spolia:

to pay Ms. Mannen $20,000 in general damages for the injury to her dignity, self-respect and feelings;

to pay Ms. Mannen $929.85 in compensation for lost wages;

to complete the eLearning module Human Rights 101 found on the Ontario Human Rights Commissions website; and

to develop a workplace human rights policy, addressing the rights of pregnant employees, and to distribute the policy to each employee.

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/doc/2019/2019hrto774/2019hrto774.html

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