Human Rights

Here we go with that him or us thing again!

Again it is necessary to distinguish between the federal and provincial legislation. The most significant difference is the limitation period for filing a complaint 12 months under the Canadian Human Rights Act and 6 months by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Ontarios Verboten Acts

Both acts forbid discrimination in the hiring and termination process. Ontarios Code specific grounds of prohibited discrimination are  race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, same-sex partnership status, family status or disability.

Do you have a minute how about 5 years ?

The long and short of the process of filing a Human Rights complaint is the inordinate amount of time it takes to take a case to hearing. Typically hearings are held 5 to 6 years after the event has taken place.

Sooo, why bother with all this ?

The remedy is much like that of the Canada Labour Code unjust dismissal process. Reinstatement can result, as also may an award for lost compensation for the period from termination to the date of hearing.

The short summary is that the Human Rights process is wonderful if: 

a.       You are independently well off and can sustain the wait;

b.       Or quite simply, there is no alternative.

The law has been changed dramatically on this subject under the new Human Rights Code which is effective as of July 1 2008. It is now possible to sue civilly for wrongful dismissal ( and any other claim ) and add to it a civil action for breach of the Human Rights Code.

Here is some good news 

As with the Canada Labour Code, the process is usually free of any costs consequence should you lose ( as long as the complaint is not brought in bad faith ) and unlike the CLC, there usually is no need to have independent legal counsel as the Commission staff for the most part will present the claim for you.

Pain and Suffering  

The highest sum that can be awarded for mental anguish under the Ontario Code is $10,000. A recent decision found that each individual action which violated the Code allowed for individual sums of $10,000 each.

The Feds

The federal counterpart is very similar in its prohibited grounds of discrimination which include race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for which a pardon has been granted.

Both acts include pregnancy within the definition of sex.

The federal act allows for an additional payment of $20,000 where the employers conduct is reckless, which presumably is something like the $10,000 sum Ontario had in mind when it described the payment as mental suffering. The wording of the federal act seems to suggest more of a deterrent than compensatory motive.

Make some sense of all this, please!

If there is a termination of employment, and a valid civil action, it makes sense to include the breach of the Human Rights Code as an independent component of such a claim. It appears that this will apply only to conduct which takes place after July 1, 2008.