As a lawyer, I constantly hear people complaining about discrimination and how they want to sue “those bastards.”
Examples include:
“They won’t hire me because I’m fat,”
“They won’t rent me an apartment because I have a criminal record,” and
“They’re trying to kick me out because I’m an addict.”
While I think it is wonderful that people are assertive about their civil rights, I hate to tell them that their complaints are not really considered discrimination under the legislation.
Legally speaking, in Ontario, it is generally deemed discriminatory when someone refuses service or accommodation on one of the following grounds:
- race,
- ancestry,
- place of origin,
- colour,
- ethnic origin,
- citizenship,
- creed,
- sex,
- sexual orientation,
- age,
- marital status,
- family status,
- disability.
Under certain areas of the law, the following grounds are also protected:
- persons with a record of offences (pardoned criminal convictions or provincial offences),
- persons in receipt of social assistance.
Unlike the constitutional protection under the Charter (which may be inferred but offers far more limited grounds), protection under the Ontario Human Rights Code mandates that if the claim is not covered by one of the grounds mentioned above, the action in question cannot be considered discrimination.
Therefore, there are no legal grounds to claim discrimination for differential treatment because of a person’s appearance, such as having tattoos or being fat, or because of a person’s addiction to substances.
On the other hand, if you feel that you have been treated unfairly based on one of the grounds listed above, you probably have a claim for discrimination. Even if the discriminatory behaviour does not directly to one the grounds, as long as it results in unfair treatment in relation to one of the grounds, it may nonetheless be deemed discriminatory.
