Monthly Archives: June 2009

To Employ or Not to Employ: Is That the Question?

Case considered: Lockerbie & Hole Industrial Inc. v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2009 ABQB 241, overturning Donald Luka v. Lockerbie & Hole Industrial Inc. and Syncrude Canada, Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, February 15, 2008 (Beth Bryant)

PDF version: To Employ or Not to Employ: Is That the Question?

An appeal of a Human Rights Panel (“Panel”) decision brings to the fore an issue that has arisen in many human rights cases. When there is a complaint of discrimination in the area of employment under s. 7 of the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, R.S.A 200, c. H-14 (“HRCMA“), who will be considered an “employer”? This is especially pertinent in the current marketplace in Alberta where workers are often contractors or sub-contractors.

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The Charter, School Boards and Discrimination Claims

Case considered: Hamilton v. Rocky View School Division No. 41, 2009 ABQB 225

PDF version: The Charter, School Boards and Discrimination Claims

In a recent post I examined whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would apply to the University of Calgary in the context of its handling of an anti-abortion protest that took place on University campus (see Freedom of Expression, Universities and Anti-Choice Protests). A recent decision of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench looks at a similar issue, namely the application of the Charter to a local school board, but this time in the context of an employment discrimination issue. In Hamilton v. Rocky View School Division No. 41, Justice Bryan Mahoney found that the Charter did not apply to the school board’s alleged actions, and that the plaintiff was restricted to pursuing his claim under human rights legislation.

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