Human Rights Day: Upholding Equality in the Workplace
How does the UDHR influence Ontario and Canadian human rights laws?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) was adopted by the United Nations General assembly 76 years ago today. It lays out that each person has fundamental rights, such as to equality, life, liberty and security of the person, as well as freedom of religion, speech, and to participate in the cultural life of the community. It has long since become an integral part of our lexicon and understanding of society; we all understand ourselves to have such human rights, by virtue of being born.
The Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act are largely inspired by the UDHR and the human rights revolution it ushered in. Ontario and Canada have the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“Tribunal”) and the Canadian Human Rights Commission (“Commission”), respectively, in place with a mandate to uphold and protect these human rights.
Are there alternatives to filing a claim with the Tribunal or Commission?
We spend around a third of our daily lives in the workplace, and this setting is no exception to the application of human rights. You have the right to feel safe and be safe from discrimination at work. The statutes mentioned above protect you against discrimination on grounds such as race, gender, age, creed, disability, family status, and so on.
While one way to enforce your human rights is to go through the Tribunal or Commission, these are notoriously underfunded and backlogged. It can take years to have a hearing of your matter on its merits, and for people seeking to move on from discriminatory experiences, justice delayed often is justice denied.
Luckily, there are other paths forward, which a well-versed employment lawyer can guide you through. A claim for human rights damages can be attached to a broader wrongful dismissal claim in the courts, which affords you more options in finding a resolution to your matter. The potential for mandatory mediation can help pressure a violating employer to settle.
Further, even before litigation begins, a well-drafted demand letter from an expert employment lawyer can sometimes bring forth favourable offers to settle, without any of the stress of litigation.
Finally, even if your matter is best suited for the Tribunal or Commission, having a lawyer from Whitten & Lublin on your side can make sure you don’t miss any angle in your submissions, and maximize the chances of a favourable decision.
Close to a century later, we are still fighting everyday for the human rights so eloquently laid out in the UDHR. You deserve to be able to make a living in a workplace free from discrimination. If you need to know next steps for fighting discrimination at work, please contact Whitten & Lublin online or by phone at (416) 640-2667 today.
Author – Sohrab Naderi