As we have noted in previous updates, the size of general
damages awarded by human rights tribunals has trended sharply
higher in recent years (see our update on this phenomenon
here). A decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has
accelerated that increase, nearly doubling the previous Canadian
record.
The facts in OPT v Presteve Foods Ltd are
particularly egregious.
The complainants were two sisters from Mexico who were brought
to Canada to work at a fish processing plant as temporary foreign
workers. During their employment, they would stay at a house
operated by the corporate employer, subject to strict house rules
including curfew and restrictions on outside visitors. Upon
arriving in Canada, the principal of their employer began a
campaign of aggressive sexual harassment against them both,
culminating in several sexual assaults upon the older sister and
the deportation of the younger sister following her rebuff of the
principal's sexual advances.
