In a precedent-setting case, a Toronto mom denied sickness benefits after contracting breast cancer while on mat leave has won her appeal.
"It's not about the money," clamed 39-year-old Natalya Rougas. "It’s about being turned down when you know it’s not right."
Rougas, a marketing coordinator, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer just weeks before her parental leave expired in January 2010.
Assuming she wouldn't be able to return to work as planned, she applied for Employment Insurance (EI) which entitles pregnant women and new mothers who fall ill to 15 weeks of sickness benefits on top of the 50 weeks of combined maternal/parental benefits.
But EI rejected her claim on the basis that she wasn't available to work due to her maternity leave status. Her appeal to an independent tribunal was also dismissed.
She then approached her MP, Carolyn Bennett, who introduced her to employment lawyer, Stephen Moreau, who agreed to represent her pro bono before an independent arbitrator.
“When I examined the law, it was clear to me that there was something clearly amiss,” Moreau said. “The bureaucrats were not interpreting the law in the way in which Parliament had intended.”
As if enduring six months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy wasn't enough, Rougas simultaneously fought against the feds.
Set to receive the maximum sick benefits, totalling around $6,000 or $400 a week, her battle appears to have paid off.
Rougas insists her victory is for "other women too”. Moreau believes between 3,000 and 4,000 women a year could be affected.
According to Justice R.J. Marin, who served as the EI umpire, while the ruling wouldn't exactly open the floodgates, it would offer "minimum comfort and solace to a small, hard hit sector of society which already qualified for special benefits.”
Hear, hear to Rougas, one brave and determined mama!
Printer-friendly version