The family of a Winnipeg woman with Down syndrome is launching a legal fight against the rules governing Employment Insurance (EI), claiming they discriminate against the disabled.
According to The Canadian Press, the 32-year-old woman worked for nine years at a clothing store in Winnipeg, manning the change room, folding clothes and tidying up. When the store shut down for four months during renovations, she was laid off with the majority of the other staff.
However, unlike many of her colleagues, the woman didn't qualify for EI. Her family claims because of her disability it was difficult for her to accumulate enough hours to meet EI's requirements. Her family, with the support of Legal Aid Manitoba's Public Interest Law Centre, is asking a Federal Court judge to declare those rules unconstitutional and a violation of her charter right to equality.
The woman worked 574 hours in the year prior to being laid off in the spring of 2007, but Employment Insurance states Manitoba workers need 700 hours to qualify for benefits.
“We are taking advantage of disabled people who are just trying to be productive members of society and live up to their potential,” her mother said.
Though the employee paid thousands of dollars into the EI program over her nine years at the clothing store, she wasn't eligible to receive a dime when she got laid off.
The family took their case to the Board of Referees, the first level of appeal for people who are turned down for EI. The board rejected the claim mainly because it doesn't have the power to consider charter challenges. Now, the family has asked an EI umpire — almost always a Federal Court judge — to review the case.
They argue that, just as there are different rules for workers in various parts of Canada with varying levels of unemployment, there should be different rules for people with intellectual disabilities who are not on a level playing field with able-bodied workers. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Ottawa is expected to file its rebuttal in the coming months and a hearing could happen as early as the fall.
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