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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Blog with a Dog (and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal)

We hope that most employers are familiar with their substantive obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “OHRC”). However, I have found that employers can overlook a “hidden” provision in the OHRC which imposes liability on them not only for the discriminatory actions of their controlling minds and/or senior employees, but also for those

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#4 Discriminatory grounds such as family status, age, marital status, etc. that deal with the duty to accommodate

This posting builds upon an earlier one entitled “#2 Mental health or physical disabilities that deal with the duty to accommodate”. As indicated in that post, the duty to accommodate is always a tricky exercise and one that should be treated with the utmost circumspection. The Accommodation Process The Ontario Human Rights Code lists a

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The challenge of the unrepresented party: Consider this case from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

A case crossed my desk this week that clearly illustrates the challenges lawyers face when dealing with an unrepresented party, in this case, at a hearing at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”). Luthra v CAPREIT Limited Partnership, 2015, HRTO 1658 (CanLII) is a decision of Adjudicator Jo-Anne Pickel, dated December 9, 2015. 

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One of these things is (not) like the other

These are the words, or more accurately the lyrics (I think they may belong to a Sesame Street song sung by Big Bird about his bowls of bird seed), that came to mind when I recently had opportunity to read the case of Stephen Henshaw v. Rochester Place Resort Inc.  2014 HRTO 1727 (Can LII).

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“Bring your friends, bring your acquaintances, just don’t bring your wife!” Employer pays damages for hosting a men only event

Imagine that you have worked for a company for several years as a sales person. Your compensation is directly related to how many deals you close. Networking is a key part of meeting sales targets. You get excited when you learn that the company is hosting a customer appreciation day. Many of your clients are

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“One of these days, someone is going to knock that attitude out of you!”

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, in a decision dated September 5, 2012, found that Paul Lombardi had suffered harassment in the workplace and that his dismissal from employment due to fighting was discriminatory. The Ontario Divisional court in Walton v. Lombardi, 2013 ONSC 4218 set aside that decision. The Court ruled that there was

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One-stop shopping for religious accommodation?

Recently, my colleagues and I spoke about the challenges of religious accommodation in the workplace.  While I would describe each of us as reasonably culturally-aware, my colleagues and I professed (innocent) ignorance surrounding the specific products and costs involved in accommodating certain religious requests, such as installing foot-washing stations to facilitate Wudu or providing a

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Ladies’ night at the Barking Frog: The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario weighs in

In a recent case before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Maclean v. The Barking Frog, (April 16, 2013), a man alleged that a bar had discriminated against him by charging him a higher entrance fee than women on ladies’ night. The applicant, Maclean, went out one evening with his friends to The Barking Frog,

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