Darkallah v. Deputy Head (Statistics Canada), 2026 FPSLREB 91 addresses a difficult accommodation question: when can an employer conclude that an extended medical leave is no longer capable of leading back to active employment?
The grievor was an accountant with about 20 years in the federal public service. He went on sick leave in November 2020 and remained away for almost three years. Over that period he submitted 23 medical notes confirming he needed time off, but the notes did not explain his functional limitations or identify an expected return date.
Statistics Canada repeatedly sought updated information and kept the leave open beyond the period contemplated by its policy. Eventually it terminated the employment relationship for medical incapacity. The employee argued that the decision was really retaliation connected to an internal complaint involving the executive who signed the termination letter.
The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board rejected that characterization. It found the termination administrative rather than disciplinary and found no evidentiary connection to retaliation. Because medical incapacity was directly connected to the termination, the case still raised a prima facie disability issue. The question became whether the employer had accommodated to the point of undue hardship.
The Board concluded it had. More than 35 months had passed without a functional assessment, a concrete accommodation proposal or a plausible return date. The employer had continued the leave, sought information and reviewed the file. On that record, the duty to accommodate did not require the employer to keep the relationship open indefinitely.
The practical point is not that a particular number of months creates an automatic termination threshold. Accommodation remains individualized. What mattered was the prolonged absence combined with the absence of information showing a reasonable prospect of return. Employers should keep asking for the functional information genuinely needed to assess accommodation and document the steps taken. Employees on extended leave also have a role in providing enough information to allow that process to operate.