Rethinking Accommodation Through a Trauma- and Violence-Informed Lens

Imagine this scenario:

You manage a small, rural LCBO. One of your customer service representatives keeps showing up late — or not at all. Sometimes she appears to be under the influence of alcohol.

You sit down to talk, and the story begins to unfold.

She insists she doesn’t have an alcohol use disorder.

Her husband has been abusing her for more than 20 years.

Her absences follow severe beatings.

She’s trying to separate again.

Her husband isn’t contributing financially.

She’s working nights at Walmart to make ends meet.

She has five pets.

She lives in a small town without a car.

What do you see?

A Trauma- and Violence-Informed Lens

A trauma- and violence-informed (TVI) approach invites us to look beyond “performance problems” and see the human story underneath. Through this lens, we might recognize:

• Possible alcohol dependency as a coping mechanism

• Possible denial and minimization — both common in alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly among rural and older women

• Heightened risk of lethal violence as she plans to leave her partner

• Financial abuse as both a barrier to leaving and to consistent work performance

• Job loss as a factor that could actually increase her exposure to violence

• The cognitive and emotional impacts of trauma, which may affect communication, concentration, and follow-through

• Practical barriers to accessing treatment or counseling — such as transportation, distance, and caring for pets

• Someone who is likely to struggle with her legal duty to participate in any human rights accommodation process

The Case: OPSEU v LCBO

This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s based on a real case: OPSEU v LCBO.

In that case, the employer did everything “right” on paper. They followed policy, met procedural requirements, and even offered paid in-patient treatment.

But the accommodation process wasn’t trauma- and violence-informed. Predictably, the employee “failed” to participate — and her termination was upheld.

It was, by all accounts, a difficult situation. In a safety-sensitive, customer-facing role, absenteeism and impairment had to be addressed. Legally, the LCBO satisfied its obligations.

And yet, it’s hard not to wonder whether a different outcome might have been possible if the process — and the surrounding systems — had removed the barriers to participation.

The Rural Context: Why It Matters

I'm sharing all of this today because it's the International Day of Rural Women.

Rates of police-reported intimate partner violence are 75% higher for rural women than for urban women.

Isolation, limited transportation, and the lack of local services create a web of barriers that make leaving — and healing — extraordinarily difficult.

These challenges are compounded by overlapping factors such as poverty, geography, and the ongoing impacts of colonization in rural, remote, and northern communities.

That’s why trauma- and violence-informed accommodation isn’t just a workplace issue — it’s a community issue.

Community-Based Solutions

The Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC) has outlined several creative, community-based strategies that can make a real difference, including:

1. Creating safe volunteer driver programs

2. Partnering with schools to use buses for transportation

3. Collaborating with retirement homes to share van use

4. Partnering with food banks for community cooking programs

5. Building kennels at shelters or arranging safe pet-shelter options

6. Engaging local businesses to recognize signs of gender-based violence and connect employees with supports

These examples show that responding to trauma and violence requires more than good policy — it requires shared responsibility and collaboration across sectors.

Moving Forward

The LCBO case reminds us that doing everything right on paper isn’t the same as doing the right thing in practice.

A trauma- and violence-informed approach can’t always prevent job loss or resolve every accommodation request — but it can ensure that the process itself doesn’t deepen harm or perpetuate inequities.

Further Reading

• OPSEU v LCBO, 2021 CanLII 45452 (ON LA)

• Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC)

Ready to Take Action?

If you're an employer unsure where to start, please reach out. I help employers design TVI policies, training, and response plans to catch IPV upstream. I meet you where you are, without judgment, and can help you build the systems and confidence to respond effectively.