Another Case

[Turkeytop]

Complainant -Woman, age 45

Job Title - Pre-assembler

Rate of Pay - $17.42/hr

Seniority - 3 years

Work Record - Good.


The Company employs 60 people, manufacturing furnaces for home heating, in its plant in a small town in south west Ontario

There are two classes of Assemblers. One group, pre-assembles parts to be used in the furnaces. The other, more skilled group, does the final assembly and adjustments of the furnaces.

There is one employee designated as a floater. He mostly assists with lifting or fetches parts from stock as needed. When people meed his help they shout out his name and he comes to see what they need. Except, they don't call him by his real name. They call him by his nickname he's had all his life. The name is a racial epithet, The N word. He is a white male and can't even recall how he got the name. He doesn't object to it.

The complainant was a black woman. She found the use of the word very offensive. She asked her coworkers to please stop using that word, but they didn't stop. She complained to the Plant Manage, but his response was "Just ignore it. They aren't calling you that name and N---- doesn't mind it.

She complained to her Union and their response was pretty much the same as the Manager's

She put up with it for several more months. Finally, she found it so hateful and so obnoxious hearing that word shouted day in and day out, she quit her job.

She filed a complaint with The Ontario Human Rights Commission, charging the Company and The Union with failing to stop racism in the workplace. She asked to be awarded punitive damages from both parties.

Does her complaint succeed?

[Robert Faygo]

Guessing she didn't get paid ... but that there was some kind of action taken against the employer to create and maintain a less hostile work environment. The Union was given access to additional resources to better be able to work through similar situations in the future.

[Rate This]

They probably stopped calling him that.

[Matt]

I think we all have a pretty good idea how he got that name, based on his job.

[Turkeytop]

I think we all have a pretty good idea how he got that name, based on his job.

No, the name goes all the way back to when he was a kid. Maybe had a dirty face one day.

[Turkeytop]

So, the Human Rights Tribunal awarded in favour of the Complainant. The Tribunal ordered the Company to pay monetary damages equal to one year's wages.

The Union was directed to provide Racism Awareness training to all of the Company's employees.

The Union selected a group of Local Union activists to be trained as facilitators for the program.

That was over 25 years ago. The Union is still presenting the program at workplaces all over Ontario. Many high schools have also asked to have the training for their students and faculty.

[Rate This]

About $36,000... not bad.

[Turkeytop]

About $36,000... not bad.

If I recall, 36K is the average income in Liberty NY. Home of the Late Christopher Pekny.

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/liberty-ny/