Ontario Human Rights Tribunal dismisses complaint of former Lakeshore volunteer firefighter

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint against the Municipality of Lakeshore by a volunteer firefighter who says he was terminated after being injured on the job.

Because Chris Cadrin filed his complaint of discrimination based on disability more than a year after the alleged discrimination took place and he was no longer employed by the municipality at the time, the complaint was dismissed, according to the decision.

"Filing a complaint with the organizational respondent six years after the applicant's employment ends does not resurrect the employment relationship and the duties under the Code," the tribunal wrote in its decision.

"Whether the termination of employment was lawful or not, in May of 2006, the organizational respondent terminated the applicant's employment."

Cadrin badly damaged his shoulder in 2004 while responding to a multivehicle collision on Highway 401.

At the scene of the 2004 collision, a colleague pulled on a fire hose, tripping Cadrin and causing him to fall onto the wreckage of a vehicle, dislocating and damaging his shoulder. He required surgery to repair the injury. 

He has been living with post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to the deadly pile-up on Highway 401 in 1999.

He now receives a partial disability payment from the Workers Safety Insurance Board and has transitioned to working in property management.

But Cadrin told CBC last fall that he thought for years he was still employed by the municipality because it was listed as his employer on WSIB forms.

He was told he had been taken off the roster of firefighters in 2006 but he interpreted that to mean he was on extended leave, he said.

He didn't learn until 2019 that it meant he'd been terminated.

He said the municipality owed it to him to offer him a different job. 

"I never thought that I would be fired from the town of Lakeshore for being injured in the line of duty," Cadrin told CBC after the decision was issued.

"That was my mistake."

The municipality said in a statement it is pleased with the decision and proud of the members of its fire service.

"We are pleased with the decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) and stand by our initial statement that the allegations were historical in nature and do not reflect the culture or practices of the Lakeshore Fire Department or Municipality of Lakeshore," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"While the decision did not speak to the merits of the case, we are confident that we complied with our own policies, and the standards and processes set out in the Human Rights Code, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, and other employment-related legislation."

Cadrin says he knew he was facing an uphill battle filing a human rights complaint so many years after the incident. 

"It's very hard to get past that one year timeline," he said.

"I was disappointed with the decision and I don't agree with the decision, but I knew that I had a pretty … high bar to meet to get past the one year timeline."

The tribunal's decision comes at a time when Canada faces a shortage of volunteer firefighters as people with families struggle to find the time to commit to training and service.

The decision, he said, sends a negative message to volunteer firefighters. 

"That really frustrates me when I see a politician in the news … saying they have the backs of firefighters," he said.

"I want to know specifically what they're going to do when someone's injured, when someone's ill, when someone's dying of cancer. What are they gonna do to have those people's backs?"

Cadrin says that while he may not have any further legal recourse against the municipality, he'll continue to advocate for injured firefighters.