Haseeb v. Imperial Oil Limited, 2018 HRTO 957
Mr. Haseeb was an international student on a visa at McGill University completing his engineering degree. He applied for an entry level engineering position at Imperial Oil. Upon graduation, he was eligible for a postgraduate work permit which allowed him to work for any employer in Canada. He anticipated that he would attain permanent residency status within three years.
Imperial Oil required graduate engineers to have permanent residency or Canadian citizenship and asked questions throughout the job application process about whether Mr. Haseeb was eligible to work in Canada on a permanent basis. Mr. Haseeb advised he was eligible to do so. He was offered a job, conditional upon providing documentary proof of citizenship or permanent residency. When he was unable to provide such proof, the job offer was withdrawn.
Mr. Haseeb alleged discrimination with respect to employment because of Imperial Oil’s pre-employment policy that a prospective job applicant must be able to work in Canada on a permanent basis. Mr. Haseeb claimed the policy breached section 5(1) of the Code, based on his place of origin, citizenship and ethnic origin.
Imperial Oil argued (a) its requirement for the permanent ability to work in Canada was a bona fide occupational requirement (BFOR); and (b) Mr. Haseeb’s dishonesty about his ability to work on a permanent basis during the interview process was the reason the offer was withdrawn.
The Tribunal found:
- Imperial Oil’s hiring policy was directly discriminatory, and it could not rely upon an argument that permanent eligibility to work in Canada was BFOR;
- Imperial Oil’s policy was not a BFOR anyway because (a) there was no evidence that the permanence requirement was rationally linked to any of the specific job duties; and (b) it was a requirement that was could be waived for job candidates whose skills were in higher demand; and
- Imperial Oil’s job offer had expired when he failed to provide the required documents, and in any event, the evidence did not prove that this was the sole reason he was not hired.
The Tribunal ordered:
- that Imperial Oil’s policy of requiring a job applicant to disclose in writing and verbally that she or he is a citizen or permanent resident of Canada was prohibited conduct under sections 23(1) and 23(2) of the Code; and
- that Imperial Oil’s hiring policy requiring permanent residence directly violated section 5(1) of the Code and was not saved by any defence available in the Code.
The Tribunal later held a separate hearing to determine the appropriate remedial order given its finding that Imperial Oil violated Mr. Haseeb’s human rights. The Tribunal ordered approximately $120,000 in damages, lost wages and pre-judgment interest payable by Imperial Oil to Mr. Haseeb.
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