RavenLaw has decades of experience advocating for individuals, unions, and organizations to combat discrimination in the workplace and advance human rights laws in Canada. If you have questions about your human rights or believe you have experienced discrimination, consult an experienced human rights lawyer.
Laws That Protect Workers From Discrimination
All workers in Canada have the right to equal treatment without discrimination in their employment. You have legal protection from discrimination on certain grounds which, depending on the jurisdiction, may include age, ancestry, colour, race, creed, ethnic origin, citizenship, sex (including pregnancy and breastfeeding), gender identity and gender expression, sexual orientation, marital and family status, disability, and record of offences.
Human rights laws in Canada protect against discrimination in all aspects of employment. This includes the job application process, being denied a promotion, requests for raises or pay increases, discipline, requests for accommodation, or the termination of your employment. These protections apply regardless of your employment status and include workers who are part-time, temporary, or casual, as well as agency workers, contract workers, independent contractors, probationary employees, and domestic workers.
What Do Human Rights Lawyers Do?
If you think your human rights have been violated in the workplace, it is important to determine which human rights law applies to you (this will depend both on where you work and in what type of industry). A human rights lawyer can help you identify the law that applies to your situation, and to determine what your rights are and the best course of action to seek a remedy.
As specialized human rights lawyers, we will meet with you to understand your situation and discuss your legal options. Depending on the circumstances, this may include filing a human rights complaint or a court action, negotiating a settlement with your employer, or other steps. If needed, based on the facts of your case, we can represent you before courts, mediators, or human rights tribunals, and work to vindicate your rights and seek an appropriate remedy.
Experienced Human Rights Lawyers On Your Side
Our firm has many years of experience practicing human rights law across Canada, with significant expertise in all human rights law issues, including the duty to accommodate, same-sex benefits, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, the institutional independence of human rights tribunals, and gender-based wage discrimination and pay equity. Our lawyers appear regularly before provincial and federal human rights tribunals and courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Our firm has secured many significant human rights victories, including the following notable cases:
- Canada (Attorney General) v. Johnstone (family status as a protected ground includes parental obligations such as childcare)
- Turner v Canada Border Service Agency (landmark case on intersectional discrimination – individual disqualified from a job competition based on his age, race, colour and obesity)
- Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 109 v Corporation of the City of Kingston (termination based on innocent absenteeism found discriminatory on the basis of disability)
- Jane Doe v. Canada (Attorney General) (Federal Court of Appeal overturns decision granting no damages for sexual assault in the workplace, the decision was premised on stereotypes about complainants of sexual assault)
- Hare v. Treasury Board (Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development) (failure to accommodate based on medical conditions)
Click here to arrange a consultation with one of our experienced human rights lawyers.