Loading ...Shoppers Drug Mart store to pay $10k to Canadian woman denied prescription over COVID mask dispute
A Shoppers Drug Mart in Mississauga, Ontario, has to pay a woman $10,000 after it banned her from the store for lowering her COVID mask when asking for her asthma prescription.
In a December 5, 2024, decision, adjudicator Karen Mason of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled that a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in Mississauga, Ontario, had violated the rights of a woman named Kimberly Clarke in September 2021, awarding her $10,000 in compensation. The incident unfolded when Clarke, who has asthma, had lowered her mask while asking for her prescription for a Ventolin inhaler because she was having difficulty breathing.
Mason found that the drug store staff did not properly accommodate Clarke’s needs, which was a form of discrimination that violated Ontario’s Human Rights Code. She also referenced similar cases in making her decision.
The pharmacy has been ordered to pay Clarke within 30 days of the ruling.
A reminder of how Sick everything was back in those very very dark days