In another important decision, the Supreme Court has ruled a mandatory fitness test for firefighters discriminates against women.
The ruling reinstates a B.C. firefighter who lost her job when, after working for three years, she failed a fitness test by 49 seconds that required her to run 2.5 km in 11 minutes.
The unanimous decision found that there was “no credible evidence” to prove the 11-minute benchmark was necessary for firefighters 006d0065006e or women 0074006f0020perform their duties safely and efficiently.
The court ruled that the B.C. government could not justify the fitness standard it had set, and there was no proof that the government couldn’t implement a different standard. The court also found that the fitness test discriminated against women as a group, setting a fitness requirement that most women could not achieve even with training.
This is good news for women and other CUPE members fighting discrimination on the job. For years women have faced unfair and unjustifiable “tests” that barred them from entering male-dominated occupations. This ruling strengthens CUPE’s case when we go to bat for members fighting for their human rights.