The Human Rights Tribunal of Alberta has ordered EFW Radiology-Advanced Spinal Care Centre South to pay $15,000 in general damages to a Calgary woman after finding the clinic discriminated against her on the basis of physical disability when it refused to perform certain ultrasounds unless she brought someone to lift her onto the examination table. The decision in Chipeur v EFW Radiology-Advanced Spinal Care Centre South, 2025 AHRC 74 (CanLII), released July 14, 2025, by Tribunal Member Erika Ringseis, arose from a complaint filed by Stephanie Chipeur, who uses a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury and cannot transfer herself from her chair to a diagnostic table without assistance from specialized equipment or trained personnel.
In June 2021, Chipeur’s physician sent a requisition to EFW for a Deep Venous Thrombosis ultrasound to assess a possible blood clot. When booking the appointment, she advised staff she could not transfer herself to the examination table and that her only available helper was unavailable during daytime hours. Staff told her that employees were not permitted to manually lift patients and that only a hospital had a mechanical lift. The requisition was returned to her doctor, who redirected it to Foothills Hospital. She received the scan there several days later using a mechanical lift but testified that the process caused unnecessary delay and distress.
A second incident occurred days later when her doctor ordered a musculoskeletal ultrasound of her ankle. The doctor’s requisition indicated she could remain in her wheelchair if her leg was lifted onto the table. EFW staff told her this would not be possible because proper imaging required her to be on the table. The hospital could not provide the scan due to staffing shortages, leaving Chipeur to find a private provider on her own. She eventually secured the scan through a personal connection; the technician performed it with her foot elevated onto the table as her doctor had suggested.
The Tribunal found that Chipeur met all elements of the legal test for discrimination: she had a protected characteristic, she experienced adverse impacts in the form of delays, distress, and barriers to service, and those impacts were linked to her disability. EFW was able to justify its actions under section 11 of the Alberta Human Rights Act for the DVT ultrasound, as referring the procedure to a hospital was considered a reasonable accommodation. However, no such justification was found for the musculoskeletal ultrasound, as EFW had offered no reasonable alternative and another provider was able to complete the scan without difficulty.
By September 2024, EFW had changed its procedures for patients unable to transfer independently. For a later ultrasound, the clinic hired a private ambulance company to perform a manual lift. Chipeur described the process as awkward and undignified, particularly because of the personal nature of her medical equipment and the unfamiliarity of the attendants. She argued that a mechanical or portable Hoyer lift would be a superior solution. Dr. Lautner, the clinic’s medical director, testified that they had researched installing a lift but faced cost, landlord, and training concerns, and expressed interest in exploring the Hoyer lift option after hearing Chipeur’s testimony. The Tribunal noted that while the manual lift was not her preferred accommodation, it was a reasonable one, and that EFW had shown a genuine commitment to improving accessibility.
Ringseis ordered EFW to pay Chipeur $15,000 in general damages for injury to dignity, plus interest. Requests for additional remedies, including a mandatory lift installation and policy revisions, were denied on the basis that EFW had already updated its procedures to prevent recurrence.
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