Case Law
Most of us recognize that a person’s race can, and often does, have an impact on the way they are treated by members of the public, arms of the state and those who exercise power over us in the workplace. At Black Femme Legal, we want to provide you with a dedicated resource you can refer to when you are looking for cases that either reference anti-Black racism, intersectionality or speak to issues uniquely impacting Black workers, including members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Naturally, this list will grow as more lawyers, judges and adjudicators recognize and speak about the impacts of anti-Black racism on workers and employ an intersectional perspective in their assessments of workplace issues. We do not recommend you rely on these cases in any legal matter and encourage you to look to this document purely for informational purposes.
CN v. Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission), SCC [1987]
This case dealt primarily with discriminatory hiring and promotion practices at Canadian National Railway. The case went before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal before it was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada where the court spoke at length about systemic discrimination and how workplace practices that appear neutral can, in fact, have an exclusionary impact, particularly on the basis of race, national origin, religion, age, and sex.
Baylis-Flannery v. DeWilde, HRTO [2003]
The complainant in this case was a Black woman who experienced repeated instances of sexual harassment at work at the hands of her employer. Her employer centered her race and gender in his discriminatory commentary towards her, often referring to how much he liked Black women and showing her pictures of Black women.
In its decision, the Tribunal acknowledged the intersectional nature of the harassment, noting that choosing to look at only one of the grounds (race or gender) would mean that some of the employer’s truly egregious behaviour would be dropped from the analysis. Failing to adopt an intersectional analysis would be a disservice to Black women who experience sexual harassment with strong racial elements. This decision recognizes the importance of an intersectional analysis and is regularly referenced in other decisions where race and gender are at the center of a discrimination claim.
Black Federal Public Service Class Action [Ongoing]
In May of 2021, Black public service workers filed a class action lawsuit with the Federal Court with workers claiming long-term systemic discrimination and anti-Black racism by the Public Service of Canada. The employees assert that they were denied employment, promotions, and other benefits for reasons unrelated to their work performance. The employees are suing for violations of human rights and employment law in addition to breaches of the Charter.