Reprisal Based on Reporting Assault to Police Not a Human Rights Issue

A black worker reported an assault by a co-worker to the police after the employer took no action. She claimed that the employer then starting treating her differently, such as harassing her, accusing her of not wearing safety shoes and reassigning her modified duties (she’d been injured). She filed a complaint alleging reprisal and discrimination based on race and disability. The Human Rights Tribunal dismissed her complaint as to reprisal and race discrimination, ruling that there was no evidence to support her claims of racial bias and that the assault incident wasn’t a human rights issue. But it did rule that a hearing was needed to decide whether the employer’s reassignment of her modified duties violated its duty to accommodate her [Meikle v. Mississauga Seating Systems, [2012] O.H.R.T.D. No. 148, Jan. 19, 2012].