Canada Post employee denied disability benefits despite cancer diagnosis: James Fireman with CTV

Interview Overview

Labour actions against Canada Post have led to a woman in Kitchener being repeatedly denied disability benefits. Despite a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatment, Chantelle Lucyshyn’s long-term disability claim was denied by her insurance company.

Ontario disability lawyer and National Practice leader James Fireman, at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, delves into the denied claim and the frequency of this occurrence with CTV News.

Interview Notes

• Claims often denied: Fireman noted that claims are often denied by insurance companies despite their validity, causing lots of stress for claimaints. “It’s something that they just trust is going to be there when they really need it, and then to get to the point where they actually need it, and to discover that it isn’t going to respond the way that they were counting on it responding.”
• Canada Post’s response: Canada Post claims they offered to permit CUPW to cover benefits during ongoing strike action, but the union refused. “Then the insurance company wouldn’t be obligated to pay those benefits while the premiums weren’t being paid, as long as the disability arose during the period where premiums were, in fact, not being covered,” Fireman explained.
• Insurance company’s responsibility: Fireman commented that both Canada Post and the insurance company responsible for paying benefits, will unlikely be forced to pay benefits in this scenario.”As a fundamental rule, if they’re not getting the premium, then they’re not on the hook for the benefit.”

Related Resources

For further insights and discussions related to denied benefits explore the following resources:

• Short-term disability claim denials
• Cancer diagnosis and long-term disability