The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has dismissed a discrimination application brought by a former Canada Life employee who was terminated after a benefits fraud investigation. The Tribunal found the employee had not provided clear, convincing and cogent evidence that her dismissal was based on marital or family status.

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has dismissed a discrimination application by a former Canada Life Assurance Company employee who alleged that her termination following a benefits fraud investigation was discriminatory.

In Moosa v. The Canada Life Assurance Company, 2026 HRTO 751, the Tribunal considered whether the employee’s dismissal was connected to marital or family status, as she argued the alleged fraud was carried out by her husband and son.

The employee, Yhumna Moosa, worked as a Licensing Administrator at Canada Life from 2006 until 2019 and was covered under the company’s group healthcare benefits plan.

Canada Life’s Special Investigations Unit began an investigation in December 2018. The investigation concluded that Moosa, her husband and her son had submitted claims for items they had not received, including TENS units and braces.

According to the Tribunal decision, some claims were made on paper forms signed by Moosa’s husband, contrary to plan policies. Other claims involving her son were signed and submitted by Moosa. Reimbursements were paid into a bank account held solely by Moosa.

A termination recommendation prepared in November 2019 recorded that Moosa initially said she had two of three TENS units she had purchased, but attended an audit with only one. The recommendation also stated that after being shown video of her husband leaving a clinic with two items, she admitted calling him shortly after speaking with the investigator.

The recommendation further stated that Moosa acknowledged signing a claim form for a TENS unit and two braces for herself, and that she never received the TENS unit. It also stated that she admitted knowingly submitting claims for items she did not receive and that the bank account associated with her benefit plan was her sole bank account.

Her employment was terminated on November 18, 2019.

Before the Tribunal, Moosa argued that if fraud had occurred, it was committed by her husband and son, and that terminating her employment was discriminatory on the basis of marital and family status. She also alleged a failure to accommodate and reprisal connected to a Record of Employment issued 25 days after her termination.

Vice-chair Karen Mason found that the termination was based on Moosa’s own conduct, not the conduct of her family members. The Tribunal found Canada Life terminated her employment because its investigation concluded that she was aware of the alleged fraud, participated in it and directly benefited from it.

The Tribunal rejected the accommodation argument, finding that the duty to accommodate did not extend to providing alternative discipline for alleged misconduct. It also rejected the reprisal allegation, finding no evidence of retaliatory intent in the delayed Record of Employment.

Mason concluded that Moosa had not provided clear, convincing and cogent evidence to support the allegations that Canada Life discriminated against her based on marital or family status, failed to accommodate her or reprised against her for raising Code rights.

The application was dismissed.

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Originally published on Canadian Fraud News.