It is common practice when settling a human rights complaint or
a wrongful dismissal claim to include a mutual confidentiality
obligation. What can an employer do if the employee fails to
honour it? What if they blab about the settlement to their
co-workers? A recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of
Ontario [
Tremblay vs. 1168531 Ontario Inc. and Amy Lalonde] addressed
this issue head on. The decision could have broad application
to settlements of other employment cases, in other provinces and
before other tribunals and courts.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE
Trish-Ann Tremblay filed a human rights complaint against her
employer, a fast food franchise in Cornwall, Ontario. She and
her boss went to a mediation convened by the Human Rights
Tribunal. They signed a mediation agreement. In it, they
agreed that the mediation was a confidential process. When
they settled Tremblay's complaint, they expressly agreed
"to maintain confidentiality of the terms of these Minutes
