Reference no: EM133021871

Hilda had worked for the McBurger Barn for 23 years as a food preparer, order taker, and cleaner. In 2010 she came down with a skin condition on her hands that was made worse by frequent hand washing. She took several short-term disability leaves in order to give time for her hands to heal, but her condition always worsened after she returned to work. The Barn provided Hilda with special gloves to protect her hands, but while they helped her for a time, they did not prevent the eventual recurrence of the condition. Management at the Barn said that frequent hand washing was necessary to maintain acceptable sanitary conditions, to meet both government regulations and its own hygiene policies. In fact, the Barn had a system where a timer would sound each hour, and all employees were required to wash their hands. After one particularly bad bout of her hand condition, Hilda returned to work with a letter from her physician stating that she could not perform any job at the Barn that required frequent hand washing. Barn management told Hilda that if she was not able to wash her hands, she could not work at the Barn. Hilda filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal.

Does Hilda have a disability? Did the Barn have a duty to accommodate Hilda? If so, did it fulfill that duty up to the point of undue hardship?

-What is the legal issue?

-What is the legal test to be applied?

-How should the legal test be applied to the facts presented?

-What is the most probable legal resolution of the case, having regard to the legal test, and its application to the facts presented?