In The Estate of Lisa Priebe v University of Calgary, 2024 AHRC 122, the complainant advanced a claim alleging discrimination based on mental disability in the area of services customarily available to the public, pursuant to section 4 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000 (the “Act”). The complainant passed away, and her estate continued to pursue the complaint at the Tribunal.
The complainant was a medical student at the respondent university. She alleged that she did not complete her medical studies because the respondent failed to accommodate her disability. She sought to claim the following remedies:
- Lost wages she would have earned as a resident and registered physician;
- General damages for injury to the dignity, self-worth, and identity; and,
- Reinstatement to her program of studies and to her residency program.
The estate argued that section 32(1) of the Act uses a broad definition of a “person” pursuant to the Interpretation Act, which includes “the heirs, executors, administrators or the other legal representatives of a person.” The respondent argued that the nature of the damages claimed were personal to the complainant and were not payable to the estate.
The Tribunal sided with the respondent. Relying on Mitchell Estate, they emphasized the personal nature of an award of general damages for injury to dignity, which is intended to compensate the person who suffered the adverse impact. As the estate did not suffer an injury to dignity, or experience a feeling of pain or suffering, an estate cannot be placed in the same position it was in before the discrimination occurred. In this, the remedies sought by the complainant were personal remedies to the deceased complainant.
This decision reminds practitioners that human rights awards are particular to the complainant, and unlike civil court litigation, cannot be passed to a complainant’s estate. For a more thorough review of the Tribunal’s reasoning in The Estate of Lisa Priebe v University of Calgary, 2024 AHRC 122, read the complete decision here.
