DISABILITY LAW FOR UNIONIZED EMPLOYEES

It comes as no surprise that people often associate disability law with human rights law.  Indeed, between 2016 and 2019, over 50% of all human rights applications filed at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) included a claim by applicants that they were being discriminated against or subjected to harassment for reasons related to their disabilities.

Franklin Law understands that most employees and other workers with disabilities have a different and much more nuanced understanding of what disability law is.  Like you, we know that most employees and other workers with disabilities will never file a human rights complaint.  Like you, we know that disability law goes far beyond the limited prohibitions against discrimination in the Human Rights Code, Canadian Human Rights Act, and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Like you, we understand that employees and workers with disabilities engage with, and navigate, a complex system of laws that sometimes grants, but more often than not takes away, benefits based on others’ perceptions of what does and doesn’t constitute disability. 

While no employee’s experience of disability is the same as another’s, Franklin Law has an in-depth understanding of, and has become particularly adept at identifying and overcoming, many of the shared challenges that are experienced by unionized employees  with disabilities, especially those that arise in the areas of human rights law, labour law, and occupational health and safety law.  More than merely understanding the negative stereotypes held by many in our society about disability and the stigma that is experienced by many unionized employees who live with disabilities, we focus on empowering unionized employees and other workers, and restoring their sense of dignity, self-esteem, and self-confidence, as we work with them in pursuing redress.   

Most unionized employees with disabilities seek out the services of Franklin Law’s disability lawyers because of word of mouth.  Not only because of our solid reputation as a social justice-oriented law firm that is committed to exclusively representing all workers – unionized workers, non-unionized workers, independent contractors, and dependent contractors without apology – but also because of our experience working with employees and other workers in Toronto and across Ontario who are affected by disabilities, our relationships with other social justice-oriented disability lawyers, and our solemn commitment to access to justice, and flat fee billing.   They come to us because people have told them that Franklin Law is particularly well positioned to support, advise, and represent unionized employees who are affected by disabilities.

If you are a unionized employee or other worker with a disability who is serious about disability-related injustice at work, we want to talk to you, and strongly encourage you to contact Franklin Law to book a consultation.