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Mental Stress, Workers Compensation And Equality: Plesner V British Columbia Hydro And Power Authority, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This note discusses the decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal that restrictions on the right of a person affected by mental stress to recover compensation under the British Columbia workers compensation code were in breach of the equality provisions (s. 15) of the Canadian Charter of Rights. Although (because of the specific facts of the case) the result of the judgement was only that certain provisions of the relevant Policy (13.30) of the Workers Compensation Board were ‘read down’, the implications of the decision cast doubt on the wider restrictions on compensation for mental stress which remain in …