Human Rights Chapter 5 Pages 110-121

1. Human RightsChapter 5Pages110-121

2. Terms to Know • Human rights: the right to receive equal treatment, to be free from prohibited discrimination and harassment, and to have access to places, services and opportunities. • Human rights code: legal documents that protect people from prohibited discrimination. • Discrimination: making a distinction between people and treating them differently on a basis other then individual merit.

3. Stereotyping: having an oversimplified, standardized or fixed judgment of a group of people. • Direct discrimination: an overt act of discrimination

4. Canadian human rights commission • Consists of a chief commissioner, a deputy chief commissioner and not less that 3 or more than 6 other members, to be appointed by the governor in council. • Human rights legislation is put in place to protect from discrimination. • Employers, including non profit organizations, need to be aware of human rights legislation as it applies to all practices of employment.

5. “ human rights are your rights, seize them. Defend them. Promoted them. Understand them and insist on them. Nourish and enrich them.. They are the best in us . Give them like” - Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations

6. Discrimination • Discrimination can be based on race, nation or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, and family. - When someone’s behavior toward another person is based on stereotypes and prejudices, the result is discrimination.

7. Stereotyping • Stereotyping involves taking a characteristic of one member of a group and applying it to all members of that group.

8. Human rights Code • All provinces have a human rights code. • The commissioners are a group of people who oversee the human rights commission and make decisions about cases. • Possible remedies include the following: - ordering the person or a organization who contravened the human rights code to stop the practice. - ordering the respondent to pay the complainant for mental anguish or for any losses suffered in pay or benefits. - requiring an organization to provide human rights and anti-discrimination training for all employees, to develop comprehensive policies to eliminate discrimination and prevent harassment, or to undertake other similar remedies.

9. Prima facie • Is a case whose first impression is legally convincing. You must have.. • You were qualified for the particular employment. • you were not hired • Someone no better qualified subsequently obtain that position – someone who lacked the distinguishing feature that represents the significant part of the human rights complaint.

10. Direct discrimination • Refers to discrimination to detect than direct discrimination refers to discrimination that is practiced openly, such as refusing service or employment to someone simply because of his or hers membership in a particular group.

11. Forced Retirement Discriminatory • As of December 12, 2006, the Ontario Human Rights Code protects everyone over the age of 18 years of age against discrimination in employment on the basis of their age. However, prior to this date, the Code did not stop age discrimination against people aged 65 and older. Employers aged 65 and older who feel as if they have been discriminated because of their age can file a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

12. Case on forced retirement discrimination Kerr v O'Hara Brothers Surfacing Ltd (ET case) • This case all started when Mr. Kerr started working for O’Hara Brothers Surfacing Ltd in February 1998. His job consisted of him surfacing roads and driveways. O’Hara placed employees into “gangs” to be scheduled or on the list for work. Mr. Kerr’s gang was on the list to work but Mr. Kerr did not know about this, so he demanded an explanation from his boss O’Hara. O’Hara stated that Mr. Kerr was too old, and that he started hiring younger workers to do the heavy lifting. Mr. Kerr got fed up with the company and resigned and brought complaints with him as he felt there was unfair dismissal, direct age discrimination, harassment, and victimization. The Tribunal helped Mr. Kerr argue his case and thought that it was unprofessional of O’Hara to do what he had done, The Tribunal awarded Mr. Kerr a total of $29,516.70 in respect of his unfair dismissal claim.

13. Video on discrimination • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36CUlaqmFi4

14. Complaint Process • You start off by filing your complaint to the commission, if accepted, a copy of your complaint is sent to the respondent with a request to reply. The commission sends is to conciliation, if the conciliation is successful the complaint file is closed, if it is not successful, an investigation takes place. • A report of the investigation is sent to you and the respondent, then there is either dismissal or merit. When there is dismissal you have the right to appeal to the chief commissioner. Then if you reject a reasonable settlement, your file is closed, if your complaint is settled your file is closed, or if there is no settlement it will be reported to the chief commissioner, then there may be a possible panel hearing. • * See page 116 for a more descriptive complaint process!

15. Sexual orientation • In 1969 in Canada, same-sex practices between adults were considered crimes punishable by imprisonment. That year, the Canadian government passed an omnibus bill decriminalizing private sexual acts between two people over the age of 21 – a breakthrough in treating gay men, lesbians and bisexuals equally under the law. • In 1996, it was amended that sexual orientation as one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination. This inclusion of sexual orientation in the Act was an express by the Parliament that gay and lesbian Canadians are entitled to an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives they are able and wish to have

16. Case study on sex discrimination This case is between Womack vs. Dolgecorp. In 2006 a group of female store managers filed a complaint against a high-profile general store alleging the paid male managers were more then female employees working in the same position- a violation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Two group lawsuits representing more then 2,000 female employees were eventually put into one lawsuit, and after about five years, the case ended in summer 2012 when the institution agreed to pay out $22 million trough a settlement.

17. Questions 1) What is the definition of human rights? 2) What is the human rights code? 3) What is discrimination? Give an example. 4) Give 3 examples to what discrimination can be based on. 5) What provinces have enacted the human rights code? * Do case study on page 119 – KanagsPremakumar vs. Air Canada

18. Work cited • Sexualy Orientation and Human Rights." http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/pdp-hrp/canada/sxrnt-eng.cfm. N.p.. Web. 9 Apr 2013. • "The end of mandatory retirement." http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/end-mandatory-retirement. Ontario Human Rights Commission. Web. 9 Apr 2013. • "Sex discrimination case leads to enormous settlement." http://hr.pre-employ.com/top-10-most-costly-employer-discrimination-lawsuits-of-2012/.N.p.. Web. 9 Apr 2013. • "Kerr v O'Hara Brothers Surfacing Ltd (ET case)." http://www.agediscrimination.info/cases/Pages/ItemPage.aspx?Item=710. N.p.. Web. 9 Apr 2013. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36CUlaqmFi4 April 11th 2013