Resources: Human Rights
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The Anti-Racism Data Act and the Changing Approach to Data Privacy
May 17, 2022
B.C.’s privacy legislation has typically meant that employers have avoided or limited the collection of demographic data from applicants and employees. However, the Province’s recent introduction of the Anti-Racism Data Act signals that change is coming, specifically at the intersection between privacy and human rights law. Employers in British Columbia will want to monitor this evolving approach to privacy and data management.
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Is a Complainant No Longer Required to Show that Conduct was “Objectively Unwelcome” to Substantiate a Claim of Sexual Harassment?
March 31, 2022
In the recent decision of Ms. K. v. Deep Creek Store and another, 2021 BCHRT 158, the BC Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) declined to follow a long line of human rights case law which requires a complainant to show that conduct was “objectively unwelcome” to substantiate a claim of sexual harassment.
This decision represents a break from the established jurisprudence and should be of interest to employers faced with a claim of sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Campbell River Test Affirmed Once Again: It is the Test in BC When Determining Entitlement to Accommodation on the Basis of Family Status
March 29, 2022
In Gibraltar Mines Ltd. v. Harvey, 2022 BCSC 385, for the second time in three years, the BC courts have reaffirmed the two-part test for determining whether an employee is entitled to accommodation based on family status (caregiving obligations).
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Is This Thing On?: Surreptitious Recording Can Constitute Just Cause for Dismissal
March 17, 2022
Your employee places their cellphone on the table as they sit down for the meeting, angling it slightly towards you. You wonder – is this meeting being recorded?
The ubiquity of cellphones means that HR professionals should assume all conversations with employees are being recorded. But are there any consequences for employees who secretly record conversations with colleagues?
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Insolence, Insubordination and After-Acquired Evidence of Just Cause
March 11, 2022
On November 9, 2021, the B.C. Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Golob v. Fort St. John (City), 2021 BCSC 2192.
The case concerned a wrongful dismissal claim against the City of Fort St. John by its former Deputy Fire Chief.
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Clarification to Law of Employee Surveillance
March 2, 2022
Elevator law, according to one colleague and despite our best attempts to intervene, has its ups and downs. It has a unique set of characteristics, including its own elevator union (the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC)), industry-specific collective agreements and a workforce of largely independent technicians.
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Taking Away Important Responsibilities for Misconduct: Arbitrator Substitutes Permanent Disciplinary Demotion for Discharge
February 18, 2022
When considering potential discipline for poor performance, a novel labour arbitration decision suggests a demotion – a permanent disciplinary demotion – may be an appropriate response.
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Labour Law in the Time of Cholera
February 7, 2022
2020 was full of surprises, and 2021 continued to bring new challenges for the profession. Our corner of toil in the legal vineyards was not immune. For labour and employment lawyers, 2021 at times felt like a treadmill of legislative change, workplace vaccination policies (do not call it a mandate unless employers are forcibly injecting employees…), and helping employers plan to keep their workplaces safe.
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No More Tolerance for Covert Discrimination
January 11, 2022
Cybulsky v. Hamilton Health Sciences, [2021] O.H.R.T.D. No. 209 (Letheren) is a boundary-pushing case that shows a growing intolerance for sex or gender discrimination in the workplace, including covert sex or gender discrimination.
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