KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Nova Scotia Human Rights complaints often take a long time to be resolved, but even so, Pearl Kelly’s case must surely be up there. Kelly filed a human rights complaint in 2009, and although victorious in every step she is still waiting for a final resolution.
Kelly, a manager at the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), filed her work-related case in 2009, charging that she suffered discrimination based on her gender and a psychological disability, namely anxiety triggered by stress.
Although the NSLC fought her at every step, Kelly’s complaints were validated in a tribunal held in 2013-14, and in December 2015 her gender discrimination case was upheld in an appeal launched by the NSLC. So far the NSLC has refused to reveal how much that appeal and other legal expenses have cost taxpayers, but estimates are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What is particularly galling to Kelly is that after all this time she is still waiting for financial damages to be awarded. A mediation effort in November 2016 was unsuccessful.
“My life has been on hold for nine years. The NSLC needs to be held accountable so that it will not happen again,” says Kelly. “So far the NSLC hasn’t been penalized, they have never faced a fine or any form of sanction by the Human Rights Commission.”
The tribunal determined that standards for Kelly’s appraisal were higher than those for a male colleague, and that managers openly referred to Kelly as “Pregnant Pearl in Pictou” in a derogatory way while subjecting her to other sexist behaviour as well. “These people have now retired because they held off so long. That’s what drives me crazy,” Kelly says.
At this time, well over a year after the Court of Appeal’s verdict, the wait is for Lynn Connors, the chair of the Board of Inquiry to set a date for the settlement meeting. It is not clear why there is a delay. But for Kelly the wait is taking its toll, both financially and emotionally.
“It’s a process that we have to go through, but they’re missing the human aspect,” says Kelly. “I am surprised that the process takes so long. I went through a system that I thought would be quick, well, it isn’t for me.”
“Part of my suffering was financial. My husband had to go away off an on to work out west, and he missed so much of our children’s life. I could have been working, and he could have stayed here, had it not been for what happened to me at the NSLC.”
“Altogether, it affects your family and your relationships with people. People don’t know how to act around me anymore. It’s been nine years, my kids were in kindergarten when it all started, and it’s the only life my kids know. And that isn’t fair,” Kelly says.
The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission tells the Nova Scotia Advocate it is has nothing to do with the wait for damages to be awarded. “If there have been any delays, the Commission is not the cause of them,” writes communications advisor Adria May.
In a follow-up May explains that the Commission’s lawyer represents the public interest during the Board of Inquiry. We did not receive a clear response when we asked whether pushing for timely resolution of a case is considered part of that public interest mandate.
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Excellent and it should be said that Kelly was an NSLC store manager and note the treatment!
This is heart wrenching and truly unbelievable that Nova Scotia Government Agencies can allow this to happen and waste taxpayers hard earned money. A Public Inquiry into how much taxpayers’ money is wasted yearly fighting with lawyers to further destroy someone’s livelihood and well-being is the only option. Policies put in place mean nothing as no one follows them. Nova Scotia Government Agencies all work under a “culture of impunity”.