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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Category: Racial Discrimination

How flaws in an investigation may lead to a finding of racial discrimination

April 28, 2020

Evidence of racial discrimination can be hard to come by. In Ontario, it is settled law that discrimination will more often be proven by circumstantial evidence and inference; the law has also accepted the principle that racial stereotyping will usually be the result of subtle unconscious beliefs, biases, and prejudices.

A recent decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario shows how an external review body may make such an inference based on flaws in an organization’s investigation.

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Investigating the invisible: Examining subtle racial discrimination (Part 2)

September 10, 2019 | By Melody Jahanzadeh

The concept of a “microaggression” has received significant attention in recent years, and was explored more fully in a previous post. At its core, a microaggression is a subtle, often unintentional, behaviour that is rooted in stereotypes about marginalized groups. Despite the absence of ill will, microaggressions in the workplace can nonetheless amount to discrimination or harassment.

However, the challenge for investigators arises in determining whether a seemingly innocuous comment or action was motivated by a discriminatory stereotype or bias. When examining such allegations, investigators may wish to rely on the broader context and circumstantial evidence in arriving at their conclusions.

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Investigating the invisible: Examining subtle racial discrimination (Part 1)

August 23, 2019 | By Melody Jahanzadeh

Overt racial discrimination, such as a racial slur or derogatory comment, can be easy to spot. However, the difficulty for investigators arises where an allegation of race-based discrimination seemingly does not relate to race at all. As discussed further in this post, such forms of discrimination (often dubbed “microaggressions”) are often manifested through subtle, unintentional behaviours that perpetuate stereotypes about marginalized groups.

The question then arises: how can allegations of subtle racial discrimination be investigated, let alone proven, where there is no obvious link to race? In the case study below, we outline considerations for investigators through the following scenario.

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