Case Study 1: Rita
Rita and her family moved to the city from a remote community in the middle of
the school year. Within a week, Rita was registered at the local high school and
began attending classes. She travelled to and from school by school bus.
After two weeks at the new school, Rita was just beginning to settle into her
classes. However, she was somewhat nervous about her history course. After
her first class, the teacher made it clear that Rita had a lot of catching up to do,
if she were to pass the course.
The following week, some students gave a presentation on Columbus' voyage in
1492 to the New World. There was lively discussion, and readings and prints
were circulated depicting Columbus' arrival in various territories. There were
several references made to Indians and savages that the colonists had to
defeat to settle the New World.
As a member of the Cree Band, Rita was dismayed by the way the teacher
portrayed Aboriginal persons in the presentation. She approached her teacher
before class the next day to discuss the issue. As the class began, the teacher
announced that Rita had concerns with the Columbus presentation. She then
turned to Rita and asked her to give her version of the Columbus discovery
from an Aboriginal point of view.
Caught off guard, Rita haltingly made several points, and then sat down quickly
when several of the students began to snicker. Later that day on the bus ride
home, some of the other students jeered at her, saying if she didn't like history
the way it was taught, then she should drop out. She turned away and ignored
them. The next day, the jeering continued in the hallway. When she went to her
locker at lunch, someone had scrawled the words gone hunting on her locker
door. Again, she ignored the curious students around her.
Rita told her parents about the incidents. They called the principal, who said she
would give hell to the offenders. She also suggested that Rita should make
more of an effort to fit in and get along with others.
Group discussion questions
1. How should the teacher have handled Rita's concern over the Columbus
presentation?
2. Should the principal deal with the situation in a different way?
Case study 2: Paramvir
In response to increased violence in its schools, a local school board adopted a
policy prohibiting carrying weapons on school grounds. The following spring, the
school administration learned that Paramvir, a Khalsa Sikh, was wearing a kirpan
in school. The school wanted to implement its no weapons policy.
Of the estimated 250,000 Sikhs living in Canada at the time, more than 10% are
Khalsa Sikhsthey have gone through the Amrit ceremony, symbolizing spiritual
commitment. One of the duties of the Khalsa Sikh is to carry, at all times on his or
her person, a kirpan, an article of faith symbolizing a spiritual commitment to law
and morality, justice and order. A kirpan is a steel knife, encased and secured in
a sheath, and generally worn out of sight under normal clothing.
After prolonged discussions with Paramvir's family and Sikh organizations, the
school board amended its weapons policy to include kirpans. It forbade Sikh
students to wear the kirpan to schoolthey could only wear a symbolic
representation of the kirpan, provided it did not involve a metal blade that could
be used as a weapon.
A Sikh teacher took the case to the Tribunal. At the hearing, it was argued that
Sikh religious practices dictate that the kirpan must be made of iron or steel and
worn at all times, otherwise the Khalsa would break their holy vows. It was shown
that, while the kirpan has the appearance of a weapon, it has never been used in
Canada as a weapon. Furthermore, it was argued that other school boards did
not have a policy restricting kirpans.
The school board argued that:
1. Education was not a service covered by the Ontario Human Rights
Code but was instead under the jurisdiction of the Education Act
2. The kirpan posed a risk as it looked like, and could be used as, a weapon
3. Others could perceive the kirpan as an invitation to violence.
Group discussion questions
1. Does the Code prevail, or have primacy, over the Education Act?
2. Did the weapons policy discriminate against Khalsa Sikhs? How?
3. Was the policy reasonable? Suggest some ways the school board could
accommodate Khalsa Sikhs without undue hardship for example, posing
a safety risk?
Case study 3: Alia and Ahmed
There are many people in Ontario who are deaf, deafened or hard of
hearing. Some people may use sign language as their first language or preferred
means of communication, and their inability in English will seriously impede their
ability to communicate unless aided by interpretation. For these Ontarians,
effective communication and getting fair access to services and employment is
very hard.
Alia and Ahmed are parents who were both born deaf. They were expecting
twins and would usually provide their own sign language interpreters for their
medical visits. Unless an interpreter was present, communicating information
was often frustrating for them. At the same time, any miscommunication about
medical information could be dangerous.
Alia went into labour eight months into her pregnancy. She and her husband
found themselves at the hospital without the aid of an interpreter. Neither the
attending doctor nor the nurses could effectively communicate with the parents,
who found this isolation difficult and frightening. After the babies were born, they
were immediately taken away from the delivery room and put under observation
in another area of the hospital. One nurse wrote on a piece of paper that the
children were fine. Otherwise, no one gave any details about the twins
condition to either Alia or Ahmed.
In their human rights complaint, Alia and Ahmed alleged that the hospital was
providing unequal services because it did not accommodate their needs as deaf
persons. The hospital replied that it was too hard to bring in interpreters on such
short notice, and that it was too expensive to keep interpreters on call 24 hours a
day.
Group discussion questions
1. How would you feel if you were in the same situation as Alia or Ahmed?
2. Whose responsibility is it to provide sign language interpreters in
public service sectors?
3. How would this claim be covered under the Code?
4. Do you think its unreasonable for deaf people to expect interpreters to be
available in emergency situations? What about in other non-emergency
situations?
Case study 4: Tammy
By age 11, Tammy had bowled for five years in the local recreation league. She
and several others qualified to enter a province-wide competition sponsored by
the Youth Bowling Council.
Tammy has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, but she has some movement
and coordination. So she could bowl, her father built a wooden ramp, the top of
which rests in Tammy's lap. She lines up the ramp towards the bowling pins and
lets the ball roll down the ramp.
Just before the competition, the Council ruled that Tammy was ineligible to take
part. While the Council's rules allowed persons with disabilities to use special
equipment to assist them in recreational bowling (provided the equipment did not
add force or speed to the ball), they prohibited the use of such equipment in
competitions.
The Tribunal and later the Supreme Court of Ontario heard Tammys application.
The Youth Bowling Council argued that it had not violated her rights under
the Code, because Tammy wasnt capable of the essential requirement of
bowlingmanually releasing the ball. The Council also contended that the use of
special devices would make competition between the bowlers unfair, because the
skills assessed would not be common to all competitors.
Tammy's lawyers argued that Tammy was bowlingshe was using the ball to
knock down pins. Also, the Youth Bowling Council had a duty to accommodate
her under the Code by allowing her to use the ramp. Speed and accuracy tests
showed that Tammy did not gain any advantage over other bowlers. Her ball
speed was too low for maximum results and her accuracy no better than
average.
Group discussion questions
1. Could Tammy perform the essential requirement of bowling? Should
this argument have been a factor in determining whether a violation
occurred?
2. Should the Council have to accommodate Tammy (for example, should
they allow her to bowl in competitions with the ramp)?
3. Would the Council experience undue hardship if it accommodated her in
competitions? Would it change the sport too much? Give your reasons.
Case study 5: Maria
When Maria began working for the packaging company in 2003, her first name
was Tony. She was hired as a general labourer on August 24, 2003. In 2008, she
was accepted in the gender identity clinic and began transition from living as a
man to living as a woman. She started the process of sex reassignment and
developed female breasts as a result of hormone treatments. Maria says that she
was harassed, subjected to a poisoned work environment and dismissed all
violations of the Human Rights Code.
Maria said that Gerry, a lead hand and machine operator, played a central role
in the harassment and the incident that led to her dismissal. The packing
company said the allegations never happened. The company argued that it
treated the applicant appropriately, considering her a man and treating her like
other men until it received medical or legal documentation that she was a
woman. They say they fired her because of her attitude and being involved in
workplace conflicts that were her fault, as well as insubordination.
Group discussion questions
1. In what ways do you think Maria might have experienced discrimination in
her employment?
2. What reasons do you think Maria's supervisor would give for firing
her? What do you think of these reasons?
3. What remedy do you think Maria should receive because she
was discriminated against?
