Inco reviews female policy after human rights ruling

Inco Ltd. is currently reviewing its female placement policy following a decision by a human rights inquiry which ruled that the company can no longer bar women of child-bearing age from working in parts of its huge nickel refinery.

The ruling follows a complaint by a 34-year-old Inco worker who applied unsuccessfully for a higher paying job in the Inco Pressure Carbonyl section of the company’s Sudbury, Ont., refinery.

She was turned down on the grounds that Inco does not accept applications by women for jobs in the refinery that expose workers to small leakages of toxic gases that could cause damage to fetuses.

In the small I.P.C. plant where carbonyl gas is an ingredient used to process nickel into a powdered form ready for shipping, occasional leakages were considered hazardous to fetuses.

However, an Ontario Human Rights Commission says it is up to women to decide whether or not the risk is worth taking. “Even though there is some risk of harm, Inco’s policy is arguably too demanding, in requiring a female to have reached menopause or to be sterile,” the commissions’ ruling says.

The chances of a hazardous nickel carbonyl gas leak combining with an unplanned pregnancy to damage the fetus is too small to warrant blanket discrimination on the basis of sex, the ruling says.

“It would be sufficent to make females aware of the risk and require females to state that they practice birth control and upon their either intending to become pregnant or unintentionally becoming pregnant, requesting a work reassignment beyond the affected area.”

While the complaint was first laid by Laurene Weins six years ago, the decision is considered a significant step forward for women. Under the ruling, Inco has been ordered to train Weins for the job she requested and give her the work when it becomes available.

A claim for damages has been dismissed by the commission, but the issue of back wages has not yet been decided.

“There is no question that the management of Inco at all times acted in good faith and with sincerity in developing and applying the restrictive policy,” the ruling says.

Inco spokesperson Karen Debenedet says that while only two female employees are eligible to work in the I.P.C. plant, the company is reviewing its nickel refinery placement policy.