When Dinosaurs Roamed the Social Media Age: Harassment and Human Rights Cases in the New Workplace

AuthorAndrew Pinto and Robert Tarantino
Pages349-365

WhenDinosaursRoamed
theSocialMediaAge
HARASSMENTANDHUMANRIGHTS
CASESINTHENEWWORKPLACE
AndrewPintoandRobertTarantino*
AINTRODUCTION
SocialmediahasbecomeahotissueintodaysworkplacesItisalsopro-
vidingnewspacesandtoolsthroughwhichworkplacediscrimination
and harassment may operateW hile the fundamenta l legal principles
concerninghumanrightsremainrelativelyunchangedthelawisgrap-
plingwithnovelcaseswheresocialmediaisinvolvedThisarticlewill
lookattheintersectionofsocialmediaandhumanrightsandharass-
mentcasesintheworkplaceWhiletheopportunitiesforbreachofthe
Ontar io HumanRightsCode and other related legislation are now greater
duetosocialmediatheabilitytoproveordisprovehumanrightsand
harassmentallegationsaswellaseducatetheworkforceabouthuman
rightsanddiversitynormsisalsogreaterEmployersthathavenotyet
appreciatedtherisksandrewardspresentedbysocialmediadosoat
theirconsiderableperilLetushopethatthedinosaursthatcontinue
toroamourworkplacesbecomerapidlyextinctinthisnewsocialmedia
age
 BothofPintoWrayJamesLLPAndrewPintoisapartnerInadditiontohislitiga-
tionpracticeheisanadjunctprofessorattheFacultyofLawUniversityofToronto
aworkplaceinvestigatorandamediacommentatorRobertTarantinoisanassoci-
ateHepractisesintheareasofemploymentandlabourlawhumanrightscivil
litigationandadministrativelaw
APRT
Thisarticlewilladdresssocialmediaintheworkplacebycritically
reviewingrelevantandrecentdecisionsregardingdiscriminationand
harassmentinthefollowingareasapplicationsalsoknownascom-
plaintsbeforehumanrightstribunalslabourgrievancesandarbi-
trationpersonalharassmentcasesunderamendmentstoOntarios
OccupationalHealthandSafetyActBillandhumanrightsallega-
tionsappendedtocivilclaimsbeforetheOntarioSuperiorCourtofJus-
ticeThroughoutthisreviewwewillhighlightrelatedissuessuchasthe
useofsocialmediaasevidenceandtheusualconcernsaroundreliabil-
ityandrelevanceInadditionwewillcommentontherolethatinter-
nalcompanypoliciesplayandtheneedforbusinessestodevelopsocial
mediapoliciesandincorporateexplicitlanguagearounduseofsocial
mediainantidiscriminationandantiharassmentworkplacepolicies
FinallywewillstressthatsocialmedianeednotbefearedWehope
todemystifysocialmediaandsuggestwaysforasensibleapproachto-
wardaddressingsocialmediaissuesintheworkplaceSocialmediaif
deployedcorrectlycanbeagreatnewtoolandresourcetohelpcompan-
iesthrivewhilemaintainingacultureofrespectintheworkplace
B W H A TI S S OC I A L M ED I A
Naturallyadenitionofsocialmediacanbefoundonthesocialmedia
websiteWikipediaSocialmediaincludeswebbasedandmobiletech-
nologies used to turn com munication into interac tive dia logueSo-
cialmediaisabroadtermusedtodescribewebbasedprogramsand
applications that link people together and allow users to generate their
owncontentSocialmediaalsodescribesphysicaldevicesonwhich
these programs and applications may be used such as smar tphones
tabletcomputerslaptopsandtraditionaldesktopcomputersSocial
mediaisboththeiPhoneBlackBerryorothersmartphonedeviceas
wellastheapplicationssuchasFacebookandTwieronthatdevice
Examplesof soc ial media are social net working websitessuch as
FacebookLinkedInandGooglebloggingwebsitessuchasBlogger
WordPressand Tumblr microblogging sites such as Twiermusic
basedwebsiteslikeMySpacevideouploadingplatformslikeYouTube
photouploadingprogramssuchasFlickrenterpriseandinternalbusi-
ness platforms like Yammercollab orativecontent applications called
wikiswithWikipediabeingthemostfamousandeventhenowold
fashionedemailWhattheseallhaveincommonisadynamicabilityto
 SeeonlinehpenwikipediaorgwikiSocialmedia

Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI

Get Started for Free

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT