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In celebration of our twentieth anniversary, we have created the Rubin Thomlinson LLP Workplace Human Rights Award, in partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Learn More

Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Pronouns are not preferences: Human rights tribunals weigh in on pronoun use in the workplace

The rights and freedoms of trans people currently dominate certain news cycles, and for good reason. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 118 anti-trans health care bills in the U.S., along with a variety of trans athlete bans, public accommodation bans, and education gag orders about gender identity and expression.

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Among (Facebook) friends: Investigating personal social media posts as alleged workplace harassment

Social media can be a great way to connect with friends and family, especially those people we don’t often get to visit in person. Unfortunately, social media can also be a venue in which workers make demeaning, threatening, and insulting comments about colleagues and supervisors.

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Ne me corrigez pas : quelques enseignements tirés de SÉTUE c. UQÀM

En décembre 2022, un arbitre du travail québécois1 a ordonné à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) de verser 4 000 $, à titre de dommages moraux, à Gaëlle Étémé Lebogo, une étudiante au doctorat qui s’identifie comme une femme Noire, en raison du harcèlement psychologique et discriminatoire qu’elle a subi dans le cadre d’un contrat de correctrice d’examen.

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Correct me not: Insights from SÉTUE c. UQÀM

In December 2022, a Québec labour arbitrator rendered a decision ordering Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) to pay $4,000 in moral damages to Gaëlle Étémé Lebogo, a teacher assistant and PhD student who identifies as a Black woman, following the psychological and discriminatory harassment she suffered in the workplace.

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Who’s on the hook? Vicarious liability and human rights law

One question that often arises when addressing incidents of discrimination or harassment under human rights legislation is who is liable. This issue arose in a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Incognito v Skyservice Business Aviation Inc., …

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Investigations involving white fragility

If you are an investigator like me, you may have noticed the term “white fragility” has emerged in some of your cases, especially when the investigation involves claims of race-based harassment and/or discrimination.  This may be as part of a complainant’s allegation, as in the respondent engaged in “white fragility,” or as part of a respondent’s response, as in “this is not a case of ‘white fragility’.” The concept has sparked much debate, as not everyone agrees with it. 

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