A Canadian soldier who served his country during three tours in Bosnia is speaking out after being removed from his job as a parking enforcement officer in Calgary.
Veteran Michael Poitras worked for the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires until, in 2013, his employer found out that had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Poitras was immediately suspended from his position but told he could return to work with medical clearance.
Poitras did receive clearance to work from his doctor, but when he tried to go back to his job, he was told he was being reassigned to a lower paying position.
Poitras at first accepted the new role. After just one week, he quit out of frustration and filed a complaint with the Alberta Humans Rights Commission.
In their written response to the complaint, Commissionaires claimed they had “no medical evidence” to prove Poitras actually has PTSD. They also claim the Calgary Parking Authority asked for Poitras to be moved because of interpersonal conflicts with other employees. The CPA declined to comment on this specific case, but confirmed they do have the ability to make personnel changes with Commissionaires, which currently holds the contract for parking enforcement in Calgary.
Commissionaires CEO Steve Gagnon said, “I’m not sure ‘demoted’ is the right word,” when asked about Poitras’ lower-paying job offer. Gagnon would not comment on specifics of the complaint.
Poitras calls it plain and simple discrimination. He says the stigma surrounding PTSD presents challenges and risks for those who choose to divulge their diagnosis.
“If you admit PTSD, you face the risk of a company going, ‘You know what? He's probably going to try to climb on top of the tower with a rifle and start shooting at the co-workers’,” says Poitras. “On the other hand, when you come up and say ‘I think I’ve got PTSD’ it’s like ‘We don’t want to deal with someone with PTSD, we don’t want to accommodate this person, because it doesn't fit in with our business plan’.”
Dr. Kris Rose, a clinical psychologist who specializes in PTSD cases, says not all employers are sympathetic to the challenges veterans face when returning to the workforce.
“Some of them can perform very well in the jobs that they're in but they get frustrated by the lackadaisical civilian attitude,” explains Dr. Rose. “Society doesn’t understand military veterans.”
Pat Stogran, Canada’s Veterans Ombudsman for three years, says Poitras’ story is all too common in Canada.
“We have to wake up as a nation (and see) that this is a problem and it’s costing us big time,” said Stogran. “These are people who have sacrificed limbs and their lives at the behest of the government and they’re not being well treated.”
Poitras says he does not want his job back but he would like an apology. His complaint is still being reviewed by the Alberta Human Rights Commission. If he wins, compensation could range from a simple apology to a cash settlement to cover losses.
