The BC Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a disability discrimination complaint because the workplace decisions being challenged were made years before the complaint was filed. Dr. Douglas Simak had worked as an instructor at Douglas College for many years. After a motor vehicle accident in 2016 left him with disabilities, a series of workplace incidents led the College to restrict his access to campus and his contact with certain colleagues. Simak alleged that his disabilities affected his conduct during some of those incidents and that the College responded to disability related behaviour as though it were simply a workplace conduct problem. He also challenged the College’s handling of his attempted return to work and restrictions that continued after he resumed teaching. The timing of those events became decisive. British Columbia’s Human Rights Code generally requires a complaint to be filed within one year of the alleged discrimination. Simak filed his complaint in October 2022. The most recent workplace decision that he characterized as discriminatory had been made in December 2018, when further restrictions were imposed on his contact with colleagues.
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