Employer Liable Under Ontario's Human Rights Code For Actions Of Consultant

In the recent decision of Reiss v CCH Canadian Limited, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) awarded a job applicant $5,000 damages for injury to the applicant's dignity, feelings and self-respect under the Human Rights Code (the Code) as a result of comments made by an agent of the prospective employer, CCH Canadian Limited (CCH) even though CCH itself had not discriminated against the applicant.

In response to a number of job openings posted by CCH, Mr. Peter Reiss (Mr. Reiss) applied for two positions at CCH as a legal writer.  Mr. Reiss had thirty years' experience in the legal field but was nearing sixty years of age at the time of his application.  As such, and fearing his age might negatively affect the outcome of his application, Mr. Reiss intentionally omitted certain dates and other information from his resume.