Does the Ontario Human Rights Code protect employees charged with a criminal offence?
Does the Ontario Human Rights Code (“OHRC”) protect employees charged with a criminal offence? The answer is “no” based on a series of decisions by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (“OHRT”) over the last year. Ontario Human Rights Code The OHRC prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of an employee’s “record of offences”. The OHRC states that “record of offences” means a conviction for: (a) an offence in respect of which a pardon has been granted under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) and has not been revoked, or (b) an offence in respect of any provincial enactment. Decision in de Pelham v. Mytrak Health Systems Inc. In a February 2009 decision, de Pelham v. Mytrak Health Systems Inc. 2009 HRTO 172 (CanLII), the chair of the OHRT ruled that the “record of offences” provisions do not encompass criminal charges. Specifically, he stated: Mr. de Pelham argues that notwithstanding the definition provided in the Code, I should give “record of offences” a broader meaning, to in
