Human Rights

The Ontario Human Rights Code protects against discrimination and harassment in employment, housing, services, contracts and vocational associations, on grounds that include race, creed, disability, sex, family status, age, and place of origin.

Applications are brought to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, generally within one year of the last incident. The Tribunal is less formal than a court, but the analysis is exacting: an applicant must connect the treatment they received to a protected ground, and a respondent must be able to explain its decisions on the evidence and to show that it met its duty to accommodate.

Failure to accommodate a disability is the most frequently litigated issue — often where an employer has responded to a medical restriction with an inflexible policy rather than an individual assessment. Constructive dismissal and workplace harassment complaints frequently travel alongside it.

The firm's principal has held leadership roles in national human rights and civil liberties organizations and has contributed to Ontario's Anti-Racism Directorate. We act for applicants and for respondents.