Upcoming French Webinar: February 20, 2025 @ 12:00 P.M. (ET) | Les 10 décisions les plus marquantes de 2024 en matière d’enquêtes en milieu de travail | Register Today!

Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

The dismantling of DEI programs: A lawyer’s response

It is a difficult time for anyone who works in the human rights space, like we do at Rubin Thomlinson LLP. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are severely under attack and are being dismantled, at least south of the Canadian border, in the public and private sectors. I fear that Canada is not far behind.

Read More

4 Reasons to support Respectful Workplace Training in the face of DEI Backlash

While we are probably best known for conducting and supporting investigations and providing investigation training, our firm’s passion is elevating workplace culture overall. One of the ways we do that is by facilitating Respectful Workplace Training (RWT) – while often narrowly viewed as harassment and discrimination training, RWT more broadly refers to any “training that will provide [workers] with information intended to help foster a respectful workplace.”

Read More

Creating a safe space in training sessions for both trainers and trainees

In recent years, we have seen important shifts in how employers are working to prevent and address harassment, discrimination, and violence in the workplace. As part of their efforts, employers are increasingly implementing training on these topics as a proactive measure.

Read More

Neurodivergent interviewees: Tips for conducting fair and thorough investigations

Investigators typically follow the same process in every investigation. We gather evidence, usually through interviews, we use that evidence to make factual findings, and we analyse those findings to determine whether a breach of policy has occurred.

Read More

The Role of Support Persons in Promoting Culturally Safe Workplace Investigations

In Canada, an individual subject to a legal process such as a hearing or trial can request an accommodation connected to a human rights-related ground such as a disability. One common accommodation request is for permission to be accompanied by a support person for assistance, as this allows for meaningful participation in the process.

Read More

“Accent translation” software? It’s time to flip the script on linguistic hierarchies

Language discrimination is a harmful reality in many workplaces, and employers need to be proactive in not only preventing it, but in celebrating and promoting language diversity. In a world where 281 million people live in countries other than where they were born, and with a record number of Canadians (13%) reporting a first language other than English or French, this issue is more important than ever. The rise of controversial new voice-altering technology, which perpetuates existing hierarchies about who speaks English with the “right” accent and who does not, adds to this urgency.

Read More

Don’t touch my hair!: A guide to investigating race-based hair discrimination

Growing up as a young Black girl in a predominately White town, I always wore what we call in the Black communities a “protective hair style.” Specifically, I grew up wearing the single braid hairstyle to protect my hair from breakage caused by Old Man Winter.

Read More