Scenario:
Joyce is
starting high school this year and she couldn’t be more excited! As the reigning 100 meter regional track
champion she is looking forward to the challenges that training on a high
school team will bring.
Three weeks
after the start of classes Joyce sees a posting on the Phys. Ed. bulletin board
for track tryouts. She quickly signs up
for the 100 meter tryout which will take place after school that day.
When she
arrives after school she stretches and warms up with the other candidates, but
is a little surprised that there aren’t any other girls trying out for the
team.
When the coach
arrives at the field, he begins yelling instructions to divide everyone into
groups of runners. Joyce listens and
joins the other 100 meter candidates.
When the coach
approaches their group, he notices Joyce and says with a smile, “Honey, young
ladies can watch and cheer from the bleachers.
You’ll have to let your boyfriend try out on his own.” The other boys let out a little giggle at
this.
“Oh no
coach. I’m trying out for the 100 meters
team too.”
“Sorry, but
this is a boys team,” the coach says, more seriously.
Joyce laughs at
her own mistake. “Oh sorry coach. I didn’t know there was a separate tryout for
the girls team. In middle school
everyone tried out together, and they would take the best runners for each of
the teams. Do you know when the girls
tryouts are?”
“There is no
girls team at this school. Track is
really a boys sport” the coach replied.
Stunned, Joyce
has no response. She is shocked that
anyone would think that a sport could be for only girls or boys; she has always
been taught that anything boys can do, girls can do too.
How can Joyce
respond?
Human Rights Law in Ontario
In Ontario
However, not all discrimination is protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code. For example, the Human Rights Code does not legally
protect discrimination that happens between two private individuals (such as
ex-partners or friends). The Human
Rights Code deals with discrimination in the following social areas: employment; housing; contracts; services, goods and facilities;
and unions or occupational/professional associations.
School, including elementary, secondary and post-secondary
is considered a “service”. The result is
that Joyce is legally protected from discrimination that occurs at school. According to the Human Rights Code, her
teachers, guidance counselors and school sports coaches are not allowed to
discriminate against her.
What is
discrimination?
Treating someone unfairly may be discrimination if the
unfair treatment is because of one of the following characteristics or grounds: race; colour, ancestry, place
of origin, citizenship, ethnic origin, creed (religion), receipt of social
assistance (housing only), sexual orientation, marital status , family , status,
record of offenses (employment only, must have been pardoned), age, disability, and sex (includes gender identity and being pregnant).
Discriminatory treatment includes denying someone a
benefit, excluding someone from an opportunity and/or imposing a different
obligation on someone, or harassing someone because of a characteristic listed
above.
In order to make out a claim for discrimination under the Human Rights
Code you need to show evidence of a link between the bad conduct and a
protected ground. And the discrimination
had to have occurred in one of the protected social areas.
In Joyce’s situation, she experienced discrimination on
the ground of sex and the discrimination occurred in the social area of
services (ie school). The link between
the bad conduct and the protected ground is clear. Joyce is female and she was told by the coach
that she could not try out for the school track team because she is female. The
coach imposed discriminatory treatment on Joyce by denying her the opportunity
to try out for the team. He treated her differently only because she is female.
What can Joyce
do?
Joyce can file an Application (commonly called a “human
rights complaint”) to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. A Tribunal is like a court, but it is
specialized in a certain area of the law (in this case, human rights law) and
is a bit less formal than court.
Sometimes it is best to try and work it out with the
person or organization causing the discrimination before filing at the
Tribunal, as situations can sometimes resolve without having to take the
serious legal step of starting a case.
For example, Joyce can talk to her Principal about this unfair rule and
see if she or he is willing to talk the coach into letting girls try out for
the team.
It is always best to speak to a lawyer if you feel you are
experiencing discrimination.
If you are under age 18 and live in Ontario
If you are any age and live in Ontario
To read the Ontario Human Rights Code click here.
This scenario was written by PLE Team
volunteer Marsha Rampersaud. Legal info
was written by JFCY.
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