GUELPH – The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) has dismissed a complaint from a woman who claimed COVID-19 masking requirements at the Palmerston library in 2020 discriminated against her deaf child.
HRTO adjudicator Kelly Barker issued the decision on March 19, four years after the complaint was filed against the County of Wellington, which operates the library.
County council discussed the decision during closed session on March 27.
The mother alleged her child was denied service at the library because of a disability, contravening the Human Rights Code.
The incident occurred on Nov. 5, 2020 in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mother and child visited the Palmerston library, which had masking rules in place due to an order issued by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health earlier that year.
When library staff asked the mother to wear a mask before entering the building, she produced a doctor’s note stating the child relied on lip reading to communicate.
Library staff accepted the letter and did not require the child to wear a face covering.
As an alternative option for the mother, a library employee asked her to wear a clear face shield instead of a mask, but “the mother refused,” states the HRTO decision.
Employees then offered to bring outside any books requested by the child.
The mother refused this option as well and ultimately left the library with her child, according to the HRTO.
“The [mother] did not provide any evidence about any barriers in the child being able to lip-read with them if wearing the clear face shield,” Barker states in the decision.
“Both accommodations offered by the [employee] would have met the child’s disability-related needs by allowing the child the opportunity to check out their desired books from the library.”
For these reasons, Barker concluded the mother “has not met the onus of showing … that the [county] failed to accommodate their disability, or that the [county] discriminated against them as defined under the code.”
Asked why the matter took so long to conclude, county chief librarian Rebecca Hine explained the complaint was filed with the tribunal on March 24, 2021, almost five months after the incident.
“Notice of the complaint was sent to us via email on Nov. 27, 2023 by the HRTO,” she stated in a March 28 email.
“That was the first time we were made aware of it.”
