hello all, i am a canadian woman taking on the british columbia government
and an insurance company in a disability human rights case because of a
denial of long term disability coverage. the case is quite complex (it's
coming up for year five & we have yet to get to the actual hearing). i'm
going to brutally summarize two of the key issues: length of employment
service and pre-existing conditions.
re: length of service: the gov't alleges i don't meet the mandatory length
of employment service requirement while i argue, first, that i do have meet
the requirement, and that, in the alternative, if the tribunel finds that i
don't meet the requirement, the requirement itself constitutes
discrimination against people with disabilities. the tribunel has already
accepted our position as one meriting argument at my upcoming hearing.
the issue of pre-existing condition is one that the government has added to
the case arguing that, even if i do meet the length of service, my
condition was pre-existing and therefore i am ineligible for long term
disability. we are arguing firstly that, my condition was not pre-existing
and, in the alternative, that the pre-existing condition policy is
discriminatory on its face.
as you may imagine, both of these arguments go to the core of long term
disability benefit coverage. if we are successful, many canadians with
disabilities could very well find their access to workplace benefit
coverage greatly expanded.
in the course of the research for the case we have been trying to discover
if these issues have come forward in any other jurisdiction either in a
legal process or elsewhere (eg. a government policy process) so it's wide
open, do you have any knowledge of these issues/ arguments coming up
anywhere.
(we are also looking for what we are calling a "disability policy expert"
living/working in canada, preferably in BC. this person could be a
potential expert witness at the hearing. we would be able to pay for this
person's time which would likely consist of meeting with my lawyers,
preparing a written submission and, as i said, possibly testifying at the
hearing. probably an unlikely request to this listserve but any suggestions
would be greatfully accepted.)
so, i'll leave this with you with my thanks.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|