Granes v. 2389193 Ontario Inc., 2016 HRTO 821 (CanLII)
Ms. Granes endured a night of sexual harassment in the form of comments and touching by the co-owner of the bar where she worked. The HRLSC represented Ms. Granes at her hearing. She testified that she felt “disgusted that someone felt they had the right to touch her body for their own pleasure, without her consent”. In its decision, the Tribunal noted that Ms. Granes described the human rights process as a way of “taking back what is hers, making her own decisions about her body and letting go of her fears.”
The HRLSC successfully argued that the failure of the police to pursue the sexual assault charges did not allow the employer to conclude the harassment had not happened.
The Tribunal afound that:
- “the restaurant breached the Code by not addressing the matter appropriately and incurred liability by not conducting an adequate investigation or making any attempt to resolve the complaint.”\
The Tribunal ordered:
- $20,000 compensation for the discrimination;
- $9,440 to the applicant for her wage losses;
- the restaurant to adopt a written policy for dealing with complaints of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, including a complaint procedure; and
- the restaurant shall provide mandatory training to its employees
To read the full decision, visit Canlii