Tag: Discrimination

Supreme Court of Canada on Prima Facie Discrimination and a Plaintiff’s Burden of Proof

· 4 min read

The Supreme Court of Canada recently overturned a decision of the Québec  Human Rights Tribunal (“Tribunal”) which found that Bombardier had discriminated against a pilot, Mr. Latif, by refusing to provide him with training on certain Bombardier aircraft after U.S. authorities denied his security clearance. The unanimous Court found that there was insufficient evidence to…

OHRC Develops Policy on Removing the “Canadian Experience” Barrier for Job Applicants

· 2 min read

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (“OHRC”) recently posted a new policy directive entitled “Policy on Removing the “Canadian experience” barrier” which sets out the Commission’s position as follows: . . . a strict requirement for “Canadian experience” is prima facie discrimination (discrimination on its face) and can only be used in very limited circumstances. The…

Significant decision on establishing “prima facie discrimination” rendered by the Court of Appeal for Ontario

· 2 min read

The Court of Appeal for Ontario has rendered a significant decision in Peel Law Association v. Pieters regarding the test for establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. The Court upheld a finding of the HRTO that race and colour were factors in the questioning by a librarian of three applicants (two lawyers and a…

Workplace Equity Guide Publishes Article by Carolyn Cornford Greaves

Hicks Morley’s Carolyn Cornford Greaves authored an article for the March 2013 edition of Workplace Equity Guide. The article entitled, “HRTO Considers Allegations of Age Discrimination in Employer Hiring Practices” discusses a recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario that reaffirms that an employer’s decision not to interview or hire an older job…

HRTO Considers Whether University’s Response to Potentially Volatile Situation Was Discriminatory

· 1 min read

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario recently provided helpful guidance for employers and educational institutions which are faced with potential unrest due to competing opinions or political views, the genesis of which might be one’s place of origin or ethnic origin. In the case at hand, which involved the removal by a university of controversial…

Lauri Reesor Quoted in Canadian Lawyer Legal Feeds

Hicks Morley’s Lauri Reesor was quoted in the December 7, 2012 edition of Canadian Lawyer Legal Feeds. In an article entitled “Case law gap in age-related workplace discrimination,” Lauri comments on the difficulty of addressing workplace discrimination based on age-related disability. She emphasizes that encouraging older workers to retire may constitute discrimination however, once an…

HRTO and Developments in the Law of Reconsideration

· 5 min read

Organizations which have experience litigating matters at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) are likely aware that unsuccessful parties often utilize the Tribunal’s “reconsideration” process to attempt to overturn those decisions. While the Tribunal regularly issued reconsideration decisions, it was quite rare for it to grant a reconsideration request. However, recent decisions suggest…

Andrew Zabrovsky Quoted in Canadian Lawyer

Hicks Morley’s Andrew Zabrovsky was quoted in the August 2012 edition of Canadian Lawyer. In an article entitled “Straddling the line,” Andrew discusses the laws protecting obesity as a disability. He acknowledges that although obesity is a growing phenomenon in the workplace, obesity is not a protected ground under the human rights code and is…

Supreme Court of Canada Upholds Finding of Wage Discrimination

· 6 min read

In a federal sector pay equity complaint that stretched on for nearly 30 years, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a finding of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal of gender-based wage discrimination. The result is an order to compensate employees for lost wages over a 20 year period. This FTR Now discusses the Supreme…