Binette-Smythe v. 9407 – 3905 Québec Inc., 2025 QCTAT 4869
The Administrative Labor Tribunal recognizes that intensive use of a cell phone while teleworking can result in a compensable occupational injury. Yes, you read that correctly.
The facts
A virtual assistant, whose duties mainly consisted of communicating with customers by text message for several hours a day, developed tendonitis in her right wrist and a partial tear of the ligament near her little finger.
After an initial refusal by the CNESST to recognize the alleged injury, the TAT upheld her claim. Why?
The decision
The TAT applied the presumption of occupational disease to the tendonitis, concluding that the assistant’s tasks involved repetitive movements over prolonged periods.
As for the ligament injury, the TAT found that the medical evidence established that it was related to the specific risks of the job, particularly the posture of the wrist and the repeated micro-movements associated with cell phone use…
What can we learn from this decision?
The facts determine the law… (as my mentor at the time, Jean Leduc, so aptly put it!)
In this case, the employer admits that it never observed the worker at work and did not know how she performed her tasks… Furthermore, it did not conduct any analysis of the worker’s posture, pace, break times, or task rotation…
What’s more, the employer did not submit any medical evidence related to the case, while the worker produced a medical report.
What does this decision tell us? Teleworking and digital tools can create occupational risks that can, in turn, lead to occupational injuries.
Above all, the lack of ergonomic guidelines or evidence to the contrary certainly weakened the employer’s position.
Don’t want this to happen in your company?
We have the perfect person to help you with this: my colleague, Peter Ste-Marie.
