No Proof 21-Year-Old Worker Was Victim of Age Discrimination

After an employer learned that a 21-year-old worker in a safety-sensitive position was selling drugs, it required him to take a urine test. He tested positive for cocaine and was fired. He claimed discrimination, arguing that he was treated differently from other workers who’d failed drug tests because of his age. The employer asked the Human Rights Tribunal to dismiss his complaint, which it did. The tribunal said the worker didn’t claim he had an addiction-based disability or have any evidence that he was treated differently because of his age. Thus, there was no reasonable prospect that he’d be able to prove that his age was a factor in his termination [Paton v. Teck Coal, [2013] BCHRT 84 (CanLII), April 2, 2013].