Friday February 22, 2008, 2:17 pm
maybe should have put under heatlh, but this business big and the crap they pulled on him, even the end of the article a lie, even thou amount reduced, they do so act in bad faith

Friday February 22, 2008, 3:19 pm
JUSTICE: WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATION

Fired employee's case lands in top court
KIRK MAKIN

JUSTICE REPORTER

February 20, 2008

A couple of years after Kevin Keays's grim struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome began to play havoc with his work attendance at an Ontario Honda Canada plant, co-workers took to mocking his constant absenteeism with cruel cartoons and resentful ridicule.

With workplace morale in a tailspin and their patience spent, Honda managers decided the situation was at the point of no return. They fired Mr. Keays, spawning a bitter court battle that resulted in a record-setting damage award for him - granted by a judge who blasted the company for an "outrageous" campaign of intimidation against Mr. Keays.

When the case reaches the Supreme Court of Canada today, corporate managers, insurers and human-rights advocates will be watching intensely how the court interprets the evolving duty of an employer to accommodate an employee suffering from a debilitating condition.

In particular, the court must decide whether to uphold a punitive damage award of $500,000 - by far the largest ever in a Canadian employment context. Although the award was later reduced to $100,000 by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the punishment remained strikingly large - as was an award of 24 months of salary in lieu of proper notice, coupled with a legal cost award to the plaintiff of $610,000.

Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image

More National Stories
Raise taxes and allow tolls, city told
Queen West culture feared lost to flames
Legislation bans use of evidence tied to torture
Agencies at odds over how grant money parcelled to band's councillors
Sky rockets in flight, evening delight for Canadians
Compromise on Afghanistan muffles election drumbeat
Go to the National section
As if those stakes were not high enough, the landmark case will also induce the court to reconsider a 30-year-old Supreme Court decision that limited the ability of judges to award damages for violations of human-rights code guarantees.

At the 2005 trial of Keays v. Honda Canada, both sides portrayed a bitter standoff between an ambitious worker and a company that had originally prized his intelligence, potential and diligent approach to his duties.

For several years after he was first hired at Honda's Alliston, Ont., plant in 1986, Mr. Keays's career had been on the fast track. He rose from the production line to a management position, where he was viewed as a key figure in the company's future. Unfortunately, his illness steadily worsened. Having invested considerably in upgrading Mr. Keays's training in a special computer system, Honda was chagrined.

He was off work for most of the period from October, 1996, until December, 1998. At that point, he was cut off long-term disability benefits by London Life, which had arranged for an assessment of his medical condition.

He returned to work, but his absences soon began anew. Honda insisted that he begin providing a doctor's note to explain any absence. Mr. Keays was also assessed by a company doctor, who allegedly threatened to have him moved back to the production line.

"He had spent his entire adult life at Honda and felt his world was coming down on his head," Mr. Justice John McIsaac of Ontario Superior Court said in his trial ruling. "The deck was stacked against him and he was only a minnow compared to the leviathan that Honda represented."

Mr. Keays hired a lawyer. However, in keeping with a policy of not dealing with "third parties," Honda ignored him. According to Judge McIsaac, the company had its own lawyers attempt to persuade Mr. Keays to ignore the advice of his lawyer. It also had two more company doctors assess him.

Judge McIsaac found that the company grossly misrepresented the doctors' advice and conclusions that he ought to return to work, and that it went further off-side when it tried to force him to see another company doctor who felt the chronic fatigue syndrome was a sham.

"The subterfuge practised by everyone associated with Honda in attempting to intimidate him to seeing their occupational medicine specialist should make the blood boil of any right-thinking individual," Judge McIsaac observed.

The judge concluded that Honda set about abusing a dedicated worker by misusing medical evidence to mount a case for firing, which occurred on March 29, 2000.

"Just because Mr. Keays did not carry a white cane, use a hearing aid or get around in a wheelchair, did not make him any less deserving of workplace recognition of his debilitating condition," Judge McIsaac said.Affirming the essential findings by the trial judge, the Ontario Court of Appeal said: "The need for this large employer, and indeed all employers, to take seriously their responsibilities in accommodating employees with disabilities is very important." However, in a brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of Honda, lawyers Earl Cherniak and Jasmine Akbarali say that the Court of Appeal took the ground out from under Judge McIsaac's harsh judgment by finding that Honda did not run amok or engage in "corporate malfeasance. The import of these findings is that there was no bad faith on the part of Honda and no conduct justifying an award of punitive damages."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080220.FIRING20/TPStory/National

Friday February 22, 2008, 3:26 pm
Lydia Nelson of the National ME/FM Action Network emailed this to me today and I just had to post it, it is groundbreaking ruling here even thou old case been going on for years,and Lydia got "Interverner Status" for Keayes, so she and the network could give evidence to the court regarding ME/CFIDS, which is a first. long ways to go although Neurlogical illness here since 2004, organic 1998 supreme court, and extra billing time, 1 hour for patients, but doctors still have bad attitudes and don't want you or high maintenanc cases.

link to the National ME/FM network is
http://www.mefmaction.net/ , they have lots of info, and ahead in much for Canada and also did the Clinical Concencus to determine ME/CFIDS which by doctors, medicla associations many go by it now, the CDC in th usa last looked is dragging its butt and going by a very old one and hta that;s it for type.
healing blessings myh friends,

Friday February 22, 2008, 3:39 pm
Yep,everytime we don't show up for work in tip-top shape they strart trying to figure out how to pull the rug out. When I worked as a driver for Calgary Transit I developed ueterine problems and was hemoriging badly and needed an poeration. Off work for 8 weeks, and after returning ended up back at the Doctors office and found a gall stone the size of a pecan nut[including the sharp point] so then off for another operation, 8 wks! I was called into office and told they were not happy with all the medical leave I had taken. The union rep. sat there with his thumb up his bum and let all this go on without a bit of support. Consequently I let my anger at the company and the whole stupid situation prevail and put in my verbal immediate resignation. If I had stayed and let them be "big brother" I would today be #1 in senority! Would have had a great pension, able to do as I wished, but here I sit in lowest income housing [400 sq. ft'] and less than $1300.00 a month. But I am happy and don't wish or cry for what might have been. I do wish that everything that can be done to change things for the betterment of employies is done. Companies must learn to be compassionate.

Friday February 22, 2008, 3:51 pm
no not if you have cancer or some other illnesses that get lots of funding, research etc. -Many Patients Need Assistance-
Like all illnesses, the severity varies from patient to patient. Dr. Paul Cheney stated he had evaluated over 2,500 ME/CFS cases and it can be a nightmare of increasing disability with both physical and cognitive components. Severe cases can have both an MS-like and AIDS-like clinical appearance. Dr. Dan Peterson, found that, “ME/CFS patients experienced greater functional severity than the studied patients with heart disease, virtually all types of cancer and all other chronic illnesses”. 20 years after the epidemic, Dr. Peterson said he has never had a patient that recovered from ME/CFS. An unrelated study compared the quality of life of people with various illnesses, including patients undergoing chemotherapy, haemodialysis, as well as those with HIV (until the late terminal stage), liver transplants, coronary artery disease, and other ailments, and again found ME/CFS patients had the lowest quality of life. Dr. Leonard Jason stated in a radio interview that ME/CFS “is actually more debilitating than just about any other medical problem in the world”.

http://www.mefmaction.net/Caregivers/tabid/84/Default.aspx

Friday February 22, 2008, 4:25 pm
7 Genomic Subtypes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic EncephalomyelitisHealth & Wellness (tags: cfs, cfids, myalgic encephalomelitis, research, medicine, science, humans, illness, health, study ) -Subtypes 1, 2 and 7 were the most severe, and subtype 3 was the mildest. Clinical features of each subtype varies and were

http://www.care2.com/news/member/956805373/646820