Appeals court rejects discrimination claim from federal employee who wants to continue working from home

A discrimination claim filed by a government employee whose work-from-home arrangement was canceled by her manager has been dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeals. The employee, Anjie Tarek-Kaminker, is a federal Crown Attorney in Toronto and a married mother of five.

“Not every conflict between one’s professional obligations and one’s family responsibilities constitutes prima facie discrimination,” Judge Anne Mactavish wrote in the decision, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Parents usually have several options for meeting their parental obligations,” Mactavish added.

Tarek-Kaminker had been allowed to work from home two days a week until her manager canceled the arrangement in 2016, saying it was “no longer viable”.

The appeals court said working from home two days a week limited her ability to pursue lengthy court cases [the] Ontario Superior Court, which the employer says is a normal expectation for prosecutors.”

However, Tarek-Kaminker said her employer’s decision was discriminatory because it prevented her from “attending many medical appointments and school meetings to the detriment of her children’s needs.” She also said that as an observant Jew, she often had to miss religious celebrations.

The decision of the Federal Court of Appeals in the Tarek-Kaminker case follows the initial rejection of her complaint by the federal Labor Relations and Public Sector Labor Council in 2021.

At the time, an arbitrator wrote that Tarek-Kaminker was “not forthright”, prone to “exaggeration”, and presented no evidence, such as regarding “the family’s nanny situation” and help from her husband and extended family in the care for the children. .

Federal Workers

Tarek-Kaminker’s original complaint came before more than 287,000 federal employees were forced to work from home as of March 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal Treasury Board, which employs officials in a wide variety of government departments and agencies, said in March 2022 “Guide for Departments on Relaxation of Restrictions” that federal employers must “protect the physical and psychological health and safety of employees” when determining their employment situation.

Then, in December 2022, the Treasury Board mandated its employees to work in their offices two to three days a week by March 31, 2023.

In April, some 155,000 federal employees of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) went on strike, with their union demanding that employees be allowed to work from home full-time instead of following the “hybrid model” proposed by the Treasury Board. to follow. .”

PSAC and the Treasury Board reached a provisional agreement on this on May 1.

Andrew Chen and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.