British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is a quasi-judicial human rights body in British Columbia, Canada. It was established under British Columbia's Human Rights Code. It is responsible for "accepting, screening, mediating and adjudicating human rights complaints." History Responsibility for the province's Human Rights Code was originally divided between the BC Human Rights Commission, which was responsible for investigation and compliance, and the Tribunal, which was solely an adjudicative body. In 2003, the government of Gordon Campbell abolished the Commission as well as the BC Human Rights Advisory Council as a cost-saving measure while expanding the responsibilities of the Tribunal. In 2018, however, changes to the Human Rights Code re-established British Columbia's Human Rights Commissioner, this time as an independent officer of the Legislature, to address issues of systemic discrimination, including by intervening in Tribunal proceedings. Notable cases Smith v. Knights of Columbus In 2005, the Tribunal ordered a Knights of Columbus council in Port Coquitlam, BC, to pay damages of $1,000 to a lesbian couple for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The council's hall manager had signed a contract with the women for the use of their facilities, and then cancelled when he became aware that it was for a same-sex wedding reception. The two women said they were unaware that the facility was affiliated with the Catholic Church. The tribunal ruled the council would be within its rights to refuse to rent the hall based on their religious convictions, but awarded damages to the women "for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect" as a result of the cancellation of the contract. Datt v. McDonald’s Restaurants In 2007, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada was ordered to pay an employee $50,000 plus interest to compensate her for lost income, dignity and self-respect. The employee was a long-time employee at a Vancouver McDonald's restaurant who eventually acquired a skin condition which made hand washing painful. McDonald's corporate policy, BC's Health Act and its Food Premises Regulation, along with the BC Centre for Disease Control, require or recommend rigorous hygiene policies on the part of food handlers. At McDonald's restaurants all staff members, including the manager, are required to handle food. McDonald's granted the employee disability leave three times while she consulted doctors and tried various lotions, but after two and on half years, the employee was dismissed from her job. The tribunal ruled McDonald's had not done enough to accommodate her skin condition. Eva v. Spruce Hill Resort In 2018, the Tribunal awarded over $173,000 in total to seven former employees of the Spruce Hill Resort and Spa in Cariboo, who said the owner discriminated against them because they were Caucasian. Tribunal chair Diana Juricevic found "that over a period of months, the owner repeatedly said that he wanted to replace Caucasian employees with ethnically Chinese employees to reduce labour costs." All the complainants had either quit or were fired in August 2016. Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons In 2018, Jessica Yaniv filed discrimination complaints against 13 waxing salons alleging