Accessibility commissioner suing Ottawa, staff for $2.3 million following claims he mistreated staff

After facing an external investigation into claims he mistreated staff, Canada's first accessibility commissioner is suing the federal government and unnamed employees for more than $2.3 million in damages.

According to his statement of claim, filed last week, Michael Gottheil was ordered by the justice minister to undergo «certain training and take courses» in response to an 18-month workplace investigation.

But Gottheil — who is blind and hard of hearing due to Usher Syndrome — couldn't complete the courses because the testing wasn't made accessible, the statement of claim says.

The inaccessible training is part of a larger pattern of discrimination that Gottheil has faced since taking on his role in 2022, the statement of claim alleges.

Gottheil's statement claims the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) tasked with supporting his work repeatedly gave him inaccessible documents and his requests for accommodations were «regularly ignored or met with frustration.»

«The Plaintiff's accessibility needs as a person with a disability were consistently not met, despite the Plaintiff having clearly set out the accommodations he required,» says the statement of claim, filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

This is «particularly egregious,» the statement of claim says, because of his position and the fact the CHRC is supposed to be «protecting Canadians from such acts.»

Gottheil has been on medical leave since the end of August. He is seeking more than $1.6 million in damages from the federal government for constructive dismissal, breach of charter rights and mental suffering.

He is also seeking $600,000 in special damages from unnamed employees at the CHRC; he alleges they maliciously made claims against him and caused