Workplace Harassment Law in Ontario

• Author: Soma Ray-Ellis and Matthew A. Biderman
• Pages: 135-187



WorkplaceHarassmentLaw

in Ontario

SomaRayEllisandMahewABiderman*

A. INTRODUCTION

Theevolutionofworkplaceharas smentandhuma nrights lawprovides

afascinatinglookatsocietysstereotypesaboutgenderandraceandour

needtomovebeyondthemI narecent articlepublished bytheRotman

Schoolof ManagementJennifer Berdah lnoted thatthe origi nal proto-

typeof sexualharassmentwhichsuggests thatthe mostfrequentlyt ar-

getedwomenarethosewhomeetphysicalandpersonalitycharacteristics

ofgender ideals does notcapture t hereal ity oft heworkplace In her

researchshe ndst hatThe mostcommonform of sexualharassment

appearsto be motivated byhosti lity towardthose who violate gender

idealsrather t han by desire for those who meet themThisphenom-

enonshesaysismoreproperlyreferredtoasgenderharassmentSocial

scienceresearchsuch asthishas contributedtothedevelopmentofanti

harassmentlawtheaimofwhichisgreaterfairnessintheworkplacefor

womenminoritiesandotherswhomaybetargetsofharassment

This paperprovidesa review ofantiworkplaceharassmentlawi n

Ontariowithaspecicfocusonthetwomostcommonlylitigatedforms

* SomaRayEllisistheheadoft heEmploymentandPrivacya ndPublicLawGroup

atPatersonMacDougallLLPwheresheisapar tnerMahewBidermanisa nas-

sociatelawyerwithPaters onMacDougallLLP

 JenniferBerda hlTheEvolutionofHarassme ntintheWorkplaceRotman: The

MagazineoftheRotmanSchoolof ManagementWinterat

SREMAB

sexual and racial harassment Wh ile harassment claims based on t he

otherenumerated grounds arelit igatedless frequentlythe legislation

andmuch of the jurisprudence is applicableto all forms of workplace

harassmentregardlessofthespecicground

Currentlyhumanrightslawandtheregimeinplacetolitigatethese

issuesareundergoingsignicanttransitionAmendmentstotheOntario

Human Rights Codere ceivedRoyalAss enton December  under

theHumanRightsCodeAmendmentAct alsoreferredtoasBil l

Generallyspeaki ngthea mendmentsserveto abolishthew ideinvesti-

gationand screeni ngf unction ofthe Ontario Human Rights Commis-

siontheCommissionrevisethepowersandproceduresoftheHuman

RightsTribunal of Ontario theTribunala ndprovidedirect accessto

the Tribunal for applications alleging inf ringement of the Codes dis-

crimination andharassmentprovision sWhereappropriatethispaper

examinesspecicamendmentstotheCodethatareofparticularinterest

forworkplaceharassmentlawEachoftheseamendmentswillcomeinto

forceonadatetobenamedbytheLieutenantGovernorAtthistimeno

suchdatehasbeennamed

Thepaperisseparatedintothreemai npartsanoverviewofthe

central provisions of the Code addressingworkplace harassment a

reviewof workplaceharassment jurisprudence inOntariowith a spe-

cicfocusonsexuala ndracialharassmentandananalysisofrecent

developmentsinOntario



CODE

Harassmentisasub setorformofdi scrimination andaccordinglytri-

bunalshaveappliedtheCodesgeneralemploymentdiscrim inationpro-

visioninconjunctionwitht heCodes specicharassmentprovisionsto

 SeessandoftheOntarioHuman Rights Codeinfra noteforanexhaust ive

listoftheenumeratedg rounds

 RSOcHCode

 SOcHRCAAPursuanttossscameinto

forceandeectonDecem berPursuanttosssandwill

comeintoforceandeectonadat etobenamedbytheLieuten antGovernorAt

thetimeofwrit ingadatehasnotbe ennamed

 Seetheexplan atorynoteinBillatthi rdreadingcu rrentlyavailableon line

wwwontlaoncadocumentsBil lsParliamentsessioni ndexhtmbill

 HRCAA supra notes

WorkplaceHarassmentLawinOntario

workplaceharassmentsc enariosT hegeneral employmentdiscr imina-

tionprovisionislocatedatsection

Every person has aright to equal treatment with respect toem -

ployment without discrimi nation because of race ancestr yplace of

origincolourethnicorig incitizensh ipcreedsexsexualorientation

agerecordofoencesmaritalstatusfa milystatusordisabi lity

Whileharassmenti saformofdiscr iminationitreceivesseparatetreat-

mentfromthelegislat ureundertheCode Harassment isdenedatsec-

tion

 haras smentmeansengagingi nacourseofvexatiouscomment

orconduct thatis known orought reasonably tobe known tobe un-

welcome

Racialharassmentint heworkplaceisspecicallyprohibitedundersec-

tion

Everypersonwhoisanemployeehasarighttofreedomfromharassment

in the workplace bytheemployeroragentoftheemployerorbyanother

employee because of race ancest ryplaceoforigincolourethnicorigin

citizensh ipcreedagerecordofoencesmarital statusfamilyst atus

ordisability

Ascanbeseenharassmentonthebasisofsexisnotincludedinthispro-

visionTheproh ibitionagainstworkplacesexualharassmentand inap-

propriategenderrelated comment andconduct isleg islatedseparately

andlocatedu ndersection A relatedprohibitionagai nstsexua lso-

licitationor advanceby aperson in aposit ionto confergrant ordeny

benetisfoundundersectionaAreprisal orthreatof reprisalfor

therejectionofasexualsolicitat ionoradvancebyapersoninaposition

toconfergrantordenybenetisprohibitedundersectionb

Everypersonwhoisanemployeehasarighttofreedomfromharassment

intheworkplacebecauseofsexbyhisorheremployeroragentoftheem-

ployerorbyanotheremployee

Everypersonhasarighttobefreefr om

a asexualsolicitationor advancemadebyaperso ninapos itionto

confergrantordenyabenetoradvancementtothepersonwhere

 Supranote

 Ibid. emphasisaddedSeealsot herelatedgroundsofplaceofor igincolour

ethnicorig inandcreedt hatcanallbesa idtofallgenerallyw ithinthecat egoryof

racialdiscr imination