This blog post was written by William Hlibchuk, a partner in the Montréal office.
On May 2, 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) rendered two decisions relating to discrimination based on family status. In so doing, the court clarified the scope of the prohibited ground of family status contained in the Canadian Human Rights Act, as well as the legal test for finding a prima facie case of discrimination on the same ground.
Although both cases turned on specific facts involving parents that had sought accommodations from their employers based on childcare needs, the common element of the legal criteria to be determined in such cases was set out in the case of Attorney General of Canada v. Fiona-Ann Johnstone and Canadian Human Rights Commission (Johnstone).
Read our legal bulletin on this topic for more information.
