Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia et al., 2014 BCCA 396
| Judge | Bauman, C.J.B.C., D. Smith and MacKenzie, JJ.A. |
| Court | Court of Appeal (British Columbia) |
| Case Date | October 16, 2014 |
| Jurisdiction | British Columbia |
| Citations | 2014 BCCA 396;(2014), 362 B.C.A.C. 187 (CA) |
Gichuru v. B.C. Law Soc. (2014), 362 B.C.A.C. 187 (CA);
622 W.A.C. 187
MLB headnote and full text
Temp. Cite: [2014] B.C.A.C. TBEd. OC.027
Mokua Gichuru (appellant/petitioner) v. The Law Society of British Columbia and The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (respondents/respondents)
(CA041147; 2014 BCCA 396)
Indexed As: Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia et al.
British Columbia Court of Appeal
Bauman, C.J.B.C., D. Smith and MacKenzie, JJ.A.
October 16, 2014.
Summary:
Gichuru applied for judicial review of two decisions of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (the "Remedies Decision" (2011 BCHRT 185) and the "Ancillary Decision" (2012 BCHRT 275)). These decisions followed a Tribunal decision that the Law Society of British Columbia had wrongly discriminated against Gichuru (the "Liability Decision" (2009 BCHRT 360)).
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at [2013] B.C.T.C. Uned. 1325, dismissed the appeal with one minor exception. Gichuru raised further issues.
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at [2013] B.C.T.C. Uned. 2088, determined the issues. Gichuru appealed the decisions. The appeal focused on whether the Tribunal had breached the rules of natural justice, adopted an inappropriate standard of causation or acted arbitrarily, and related issues. Gichuru also appealed the dismissal of his Charter challenge and submitted that the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to order the minor correction.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Administrative Law - Topic 341
The hearing and decision - Nature or extent of the hearing - See paragraphs 79 to 89.
Administrative Law - Topic 2266
Natural justice - The duty of fairness - What constitutes procedural fairness - See paragraphs 29 to 40.
Administrative Law - Topic 2444
Natural justice - Procedure - Notice - Contents and sufficiency of notice - See paragraphs 75 to 78.
Administrative Law - Topic 2668
Natural justice - Denial - Remedies - Remittal of award or decision - See paragraphs 90 to 100.
Civil Rights - Topic 911
Discrimination - General principles - Causation - See paragraphs 41 to 65.
Civil Rights - Topic 7185
Federal, provincial or territorial legislation - Remedies - Damages - See paragraphs 66 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 8668
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Equality rights (s. 15) - What constitutes a breach of s. 15 - See paragraphs 101 to 108.
Cases Noticed:
Bitonti v. College of Physicians and Surgeons (B.C.), 2002 BCHRT 29, refd to. [para. 10].
Canada (Attorney General) v. Morgan and Canadian Human Rights Commission, [1992] 2 F.C. 401; 135 N.R. 27; 85 D.L.R.(4th) 473 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 10].
Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada Ltd., [2008] 2 S.C.R. 114; 375 N.R. 81; 238 O.A.C. 130; 2008 SCC 27, refd to. [para. 11].
Chambers v. Goertz - see MacDonald v. Goertz et al.
MacDonald v. Goertz et al. (2009), 275 B.C.A.C. 68; 465 W.A.C. 68; 96 B.C.L.R.(4th) 236; 2009 BCCA 358, refd to. [para. 11].
Chopra v. Canada (Attorney General) et al. (2007), 369 N.R. 207; 2007 FCA 268, appld. [para. 12].
Canada (Attorney General) v. Tahmourpour (2010), 405 N.R. 54; 2010 CarswellNat 2399; 2010 FCA 192, refd to. [para. 12].
J.J. v. Board of School Trustees of School District No. 43 (Coquitlam) et al. (2013), 334 B.C.A.C. 57; 572 W.A.C. 57; 2013 BCCA 67, refd to. [para. 42].
Berezoutskaia v. Human Rights Tribunal (B.C.) et al. (2006), 223 B.C.A.C. 71; 369 W.A.C. 71; 2006 BCCA 95, refd to. [para. 54].
Gichuru v. Ash et al., [2010] B.C.T.C. Uned. 849; 2010 BCSC 849, refd to. [para. 57].
Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal (B.C.) v. Hill et al. (2011), 299 B.C.A.C. 129; 508 W.A.C. 129; 2011 BCCA 49, refd to. [para. 97].
Allman et al. v. Amacon Property Management Services Inc. (2007), 243 B.C.A.C. 52; 401 W.A.C. 52; 2007 BCCA 302, refd to. [para. 97].
Workers' Compensation Board (B.C.) v. Human Rights Tribunal (B.C.) et al., [2011] 3 S.C.R. 422; 421 N.R. 338; 311 B.C.A.C. 1; 529 W.A.C. 1; 2011 SCC 52, refd to. [para. 98].
Quebec (Attorney General) v. A. - see A. v. B.
A. v. B., [2013] 1 S.C.R. 61; 439 N.R. 1; 2013 SCC 5, refd to. [para. 102].
Withler v. Canada (Attorney General) (2011), 412 N.R. 149; 300 B.C.A.C. 120; 509 W.A.C. 120; 2011 SCC 12, refd to. [para. 102].
Bhadauria v. Seneca College, [1981] 2 S.C.R. 181; 37 N.R. 455, refd to. [para. 103].
Keays v. Honda Canada Inc., [2008] 2 S.C.R. 362; 376 N.R. 196; 239 O.A.C. 299; 2008 SCC 39, refd to. [para. 103].
Doré v. Barreau du Québec (2012), 428 N.R. 146; 343 D.L.R.(4th) 193; 2012 SCC 12, refd to. [para. 107].
Statutes Noticed:
Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210, sect. 37(2)(d)(ii), sect. 37(2)(d)(iii) [para. 6].
Counsel:
M. Gichuru, the appellant, appeared on his own behalf;
G.B. Gomery, Q.C., and J.V. Payne, for the respondent, The Law Society;
K.A. Hardie, for the respondent, BC Human Rights Tribunal;
B.A. Mackey, for the interested party, Attorney General of BC.
This appeal was heard on June 17 and 18, 2014, by Bauman, C.J.B.C., D. Smith and MacKenzie, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Bauman, C.J.B.C., delivered the following reasons for judgment for the court on October 16, 2014.
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Gichuru v. Purewal, 2018 BCSC 2288
...(iii) of the Human Rights Code are discretionary: see Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia, 2013 BCSC 1325 at paras. 16, 60, aff’d 2014 BCCA 396. [28] Therefore, the standard of review for decisions regarding compensation is patent unreasonableness pursuant to s. 59(3) of the ATA. Thi......
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...the court may make a decision the Legislature has otherwise left to an administrative body: Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia , 2014 BCCA 396, at para. 97. As Saunders J.A. noted in Dennis , at para. 26, "a court will only rarely make the decision which legislation assigns to the a......
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...Allman v. Amacon Property Management Services Inc., 2007 BCCA 302 at para. 10; and Gichuru v. The Law Society of British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 396, where the court has applied the principle that where the order challenged should have been rendered by the decision-maker, then remitting th......
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Gichuru v. Pallai, 2018 BCSC 2220
...Gichuru's argument here bears some similarity to the one he unsuccessfully advanced in Gichuru v. The Law Society of British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 396. He argued there that s. 37 of the Code violates s. 15(1) of the Charter because it allows the Tribunal to deviate from the common law and equ......
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Gichuru v. Purewal, 2018 BCSC 2288
...(iii) of the Human Rights Code are discretionary: see Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia, 2013 BCSC 1325 at paras. 16, 60, aff’d 2014 BCCA 396. [28] Therefore, the standard of review for decisions regarding compensation is patent unreasonableness pursuant to s. 59(3) of the ATA. Thi......
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Martin v. Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (B.C.) et al., 2015 BCSC 1357
...the court may make a decision the Legislature has otherwise left to an administrative body: Gichuru v. Law Society of British Columbia , 2014 BCCA 396, at para. 97. As Saunders J.A. noted in Dennis , at para. 26, "a court will only rarely make the decision which legislation assigns to the a......
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Whitfield v. British Columbia (Provincial Court), 2018 BCSC 1065
...Allman v. Amacon Property Management Services Inc., 2007 BCCA 302 at para. 10; and Gichuru v. The Law Society of British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 396, where the court has applied the principle that where the order challenged should have been rendered by the decision-maker, then remitting th......
-
Gichuru v. Pallai, 2018 BCSC 2220
...Gichuru's argument here bears some similarity to the one he unsuccessfully advanced in Gichuru v. The Law Society of British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 396. He argued there that s. 37 of the Code violates s. 15(1) of the Charter because it allows the Tribunal to deviate from the common law and equ......
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B.C. Human Rights Tribunal Makes Record-Shattering Award For Injury To Dignity
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