Union claims victory in appeal court fight
for injured worker

Burnaby, May 7, 2009 - In a court battle led by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258, against the Workers Compensation Board on behalf of a member injured as a result of a workplace accident, the BC Court of Appeal issued a 2-1 decision on April 30, 2009, striking down the mental disability policy provisions of the Workers Compensation Board WCB) as unconstitutional.

Doug McKay, Business Manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258, said, “This is a great day for workers in BC. The union led a good fight to protect the rights of our member, and all workers, through two decisions at the WCB, one decision at the Workers Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT) and one decision at the BC Supreme Court. Finally, the Court of Appeal got it right.”

In 2003, the Appellant, Mr. Plesner, suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when a major gas leak occurred at work with his employer, BC Hydro. Although the WCAT accepted the injury was real and that it occurred at work, Mr. Plesner’s claim was denied on the grounds that the triggering event was not traumatic enough. To be compensable, the traumatic event had to be on the level of a hostage taking or an armed robbery. Through its policy, WorkSafe BC limited the types of mental injury claims it would accept. WCB policy was meant to complement amendments made in 2002 by the Liberal government to the Workers Compensation Act.

In granting the appeal, the BC Court of Appeal concluded “workers with purely mental injuries are forced to meet a significantly higher threshold for compensation which is not required of those who suffer work-related injuries that are purely physical…". The Court further noted, “There is a dearth of evidence that it is necessary to exclude claims that are otherwise proven to be genuine and work-related simply because the event giving rise to the incident is not 'traumatic' as defined by the policy."

The WCB policy provisions were found to be a breach of Section 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they treated workers with mental injuries in a discriminatory fashion compared to workers with physical injuries: see Plesner vs. BC Hydro and Power Authority et al.

McKay concluded, “We need to aggressively protect those who are injured on the job. The type of injury shouldn’t matter. It’s time for more understanding of mental health issues, not less.”