On December 7, 2009, the Manitoba Human Rights Board of Adjudication rendered a decision in Penner v. Fort Garry Services Inc. in relation to a complaint of discrimination in employment on the basis of criminal record. This is the first decision from Manitoba that I am aware of that tackles this thorny issue.
The Facts:
The complainant, [...]
Human Rights Law in Canadian Workplaces
Category Archives: Reasonable Accommodation
No discrimination found regarding termination of Manitoba employee with criminal record
Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace still a very live issue
In a recent Globe and Mail article discussing a similarly recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario relating to a young woman who had been fired by her employer after finding out she was pregnant, the following advice was given:
"…it's wise for women to think strategically about when to disclose a pregnancy to [...]
Lack of accommodation on return to work has food service company eating crow
In Tofflemire v. Metro (Windsor) Enterprises Inc., the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario examined the efforts made by a food and drink services company to accommodate a long-serving employee upon his return-to-work after having a heart transplant. The Tribunal determined that the company's efforts were woefully inadequate and awarded damages to the employee as a result.
The Facts
Mr. [...]
Twitter Talk – August 24, 2009
I'm thankful I was able to get out with my family yesterday and enjoy our one whole day of summer yesterday! (We almost didn't recognize the blue sky and sun when it showed up in the morning). Today, we got hit by a thunderstorm which had me wondering if we were going to leave the [...]
Having a process AND following it key to meeting duty to accommodate
In the course I teach for the Manitoba Human Rights Commission on “The Duty to Accommodate in the Workplace”, I spend a good chunk of time talking about how important it is for employers to implement a policy/process in their workplaces establishing how they will respond to requests for accommodation by employees. In particular, I talk [...]
Ontario Human Rights Commission updates Policy on Discrimination due to Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
The Ontario Human Rights Commission has released an update of its Policy on Discrimination Because of Pregnancy and Breastfeeding. The update incorporates, among other things, new legal cases relating to pregnancy and pregnancy-related discrimination in employment, services and housing. You'll see from the Table of Contents, that the Policy covers a lot of ground, including:
Code Protections [...]
New drug testing publications of assistance to employers
Lately, I've been getting a number of inquiries about the legalities of drug testing in the workplace. It's a 'hot issue', particularly in the last few years as some key cases have wound their way through the tribunals and courts. Last month, I was also interviewed on CBC radio as a result of a post [...]
Disability complaints still dominate Manitoba Human Rights Commission’s case load
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has released its annual report for 2007 and it illustrates that complaints based on physical or mental disability continue to dominate the various types of complaints received by the Commission each year. As noted by the report:
41% of the formal complaints filed with the Commission in 2007 were focused on the grounds of physical [...]
Where are all the employees? Lessons from the dance floor.
In a given year, through the courses I teach for the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and the courses I'm hired to teach in-house at various workplaces I am privileged to get to share the things I know about workplace human rights law to hundreds of people. But, when I sit back and think about the [...]
Tribunal approves employer’s religious observance accommodation policy
In Markovic v. Autocom Manufacturing Ltd.the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal was recently asked to review Autocom's Procedure for Accommodation of Religious Observances ("the Policy") to determine whether it was in keeping with obligations under human rights legislation and applicable case law. The case involved an employee, Savo Markovic, a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who [...]
