Human Rights Trial

Fact Scenario

Rebecca is a cleaning custodian who has worked at XBTD Company for 8 years. She is responsible for dusting furniture, washing windows, mopping floors and performing other general cleaning duties and has successfully passed all her performance appraisals.

Her new manager Jordan has been drafting new job descriptions for all employees at XBTD Company. Effective immediately, all new and current cleaning custodians must be able to lift 65 pounds from waist to shoulder.

Rebecca is not able to meet this standard. She has never had to lift anything more than 20 or 30 pounds and there seems to be nothing in her duties which requires someone to have to be able to lift that much.

Jordan told her that it is impossible to accommodate her. However, the company had alternative work for her. She was moved to the reception area where her primary duties would be to answer the phone, greet clients and file documents. Things seemed to be going well. Rebecca quickly learned her new job and it looked like she was meeting company expectations. About a month into her new position, she noticed that her co-worker Derek was visiting strange websites. One day, Rebecca's computer froze so she quickly jumped on Derek's computer (he had just gone on the computer and did not lock the computer) and she noticed that he had left open a page from "ProtectOurRacialHeritage.org". Rebecca was shocked to see this page calling for the expulsion of immigrants and racial minorities from Canada. Derek came back from the bathroom and asked her what she was doing. Rebecca quickly said that her computer froze and she jumped on his computer to help a client. She did not confront him about the website. Derek seemed okay with her answer and asked nothing further. About a month later, Esperanza was hired in their reception department. Derek immediately took a dislike to her. He refused to help her "learn the ropes" of the job and told her to get help from Rebecca. Esperanza just assumed that Derek was not particularly nice; she did not make any assumptions that he did not like her because she is a Lesbian. But Rebecca suspected that Derek was treating Esperanza differently because of this. Rebecca wanted to report Derek but she knew that Derek and their manager Rick are very good friends as they went to high school together. One day, Rebecca overheard Derek telling someone of the phone that "I can't stand Esperanza. I wish I could get that 'dyke' fired!" Rebecca was fed up. Although she is heterosexual, she strongly believes that this type of language is wrong and these types of attitudes have no place in society. She went to her manager's office and told him that she wanted to tell him something in private. Rick immediately shut the door. Rebecca sat down and was nervously trembling. Rick decided to massage her shoulders to "make her feel comfortable". Rebecca immediately told Rick to stop "I don't like this", she said. "Don't be such a prude, Rebecca, I am only trying to make you feel better. You will like this, I'm sure." Rebecca slipped away from Rick and went to her workstation. The next day, Rebecca saw Rick in the hallway. She confronted him saying "I was not comfortable with what you did last night." He replied: "What I did? Rebecca, you enjoyed it! You better not be making up stories! You can be terminated for lying." Rebecca was surprised and shocked. She was anxiously looking forward to the end of her shift so the she could go home and regroup as she had a 3 week vacation scheduled.

Rebecca has approached you about filing a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal on your behalf. Your job is to present her case of discrimination against XBTD Company.

Assignment

You are to provide a written report in the following format:

Summary of Issues: this is where you summarize the grounds of discrimination that Rebecca experienced

Issues: here you provide details of each ground of discrimination. You should make reference to the applicable section(s) of the Human Rights Code and provide examples of relevant case law. Outline any tests, if applicable. The text has examples of cases with similar fact scenarios. Use online resources such as canlii.org to find more examples. Separate into subsections for each pertinent issue.

Conclusion:

this is where you draft your conclusion and state the remedy sought. In this case, you are asking the tribunal to award Rebecca $25,000 damages for loss of dignity.

This is not meant to be an extensive report. Three to four pages maximum should be sufficient to outline your position and present your case.