Blind Ontario man awarded $28,000 after tribunal finds workplace discrimination

A blind man who won a human rights discrimination case speaks out. Kamil Karamali has his story.

A blind Ontario man has been awarded more than $28,000 in compensation and lost wages after the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) decided a call-centre company took part in “discriminatory” action when it did not provide him with the tools needed to do his job.

“It was a real joy to read the decision, honestly,” said Erik Burggraaf, who has been blind since birth. “I’m happy about the decision. I’m relieved that it upholds the precedents. That’s the really important thing.”

Burggraaf, who lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, said he tried to apply for dozens of jobs in a two-year span nearly a decade ago, but he felt hopeful when he received an interview request from Convergy’s call centre in Welland, ON, for a sales associate position back in 2017.

He claimed that he told the employer in the interview process what he needed as a blind person to do his job — a Braille display and screen-reading computer software.

“They committed to providing the tools for work, but you wouldn’t provide the tools for work for a candidate that wasn’t suitable for the job -- so at that point, you feel like you have the job because they’re looking at how to build a screen reader into their process,” said Burggraaf.

“But then they left a voicemail on my phone and just said we can’t do it -- and that was it.”

In the HRTO hearing, the employer had claimed the software was not compatible with the computer systems the company was using at the call centre.

In the Oct. 17 decision, HRTO adjudicator Romona Gananathan said they were “...unable to find based on all of the evidence that the respondents met their substantive duty to accommodate the applicant, because they did not explore alternatives and costs of any programs that could have been adapted to meet the needs of their client and accommodate the worker.”

“Accordingly, the respondents’ decision not to hire the applicant as a result of his blindness is discriminatory under the Code," reads the decision."

Burggraaf said the decision upholds the precedent, “but the big thing that came out of this was that an applicant must be included in the fact-finding and discovery of what is or is not possible.”

The HRTO awarded Burggraaf $20,000 in compensation for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect, and $8,472 for lost wages.

It also ordered the employers to develop new human rights and accommodation policies specifically addressing the hiring of blind applicants, with a focus on the interview process.

Unemployment rate of Canadians with disabilities a ‘national shame’

The most recent data from Statistics Canada says the Canadian unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 8.1 per cent, while the rate for those without disabilities was 5.6 per cent.

“The unemployment rate facing Canadians with disabilities is not only a national crisis, it’s a national shame -- and it continues to this day.” said David Lepofsky, a blind disability advocate and retired lawyer. “The problem is a merger of barriers in the education system facing students with disabilities. If you can’t get a good education, you can’t get a good job.”

“To enforce the human rights code, you got to go to a tribunal yourself and fight your own case -- and many people with disabilities won’t, added Lepofky. ”And even if you do, you have to wait years and years and years, which is something that is ridiculous."

Despite his eight-year wait to have his case heard and a decision to come down, Burggraaf hopes his story will inspire other people with disabilities to push back against discrimination in the workplace or during the hiring process.

“What I want people to do is, is to talk about it and to bring these types of things forward, because it turns out there is actually something you can do about it. And the more people who speak up, the faster we can change the state of things.”

The Convergy’s call-centre location in Welland, Ontario closed down in 2018 -- with the company merging with another to form a new corporation called Concentrix.

CTV News sent an email request to Concentrix for an interview and comment related to this story, but did not hear back before the deadline.