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The public servant did not realize she had been fired until March 2013 as she was preparing to return to work following more than a year of therapy and treatment. She told the board that she was “shocked and stunned.”

She grieved her dismissal, arguing that it was discriminatory and without cause; she asked the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board to reinstate her and award her six years of lost wages and damages.

The labour relations board, however, found that the woman failed in her obligation to fully explain her pursuit of a graduate degree and teaching opportunity while on sick leave. While she followed her doctors’ advice to avoid direct contact with her supervisors, the board said, she failed to establish a communications channel with the government’s human resources department as they suggested.

“I cannot help but conclude that in the circumstances of this case, she contributed in a significant way to her employment difficulties,” wrote adjudicator David Olsen.

Olsen ordered the parties to try to negotiated a settlement in light of his reasons, which found fault on both sides.

Neither the public servant nor her lawyer could be reached for comment. Martin Potvin, a spokesman for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said the government has reviewed the decision, but cannot comment since it remains before the labour relations board. The parties, he said, “continue to work on an appropriate remedy and will return to the board for a decision if an agreement cannot be reached.”