Employers Unlikely To Get Costs In Alberta Human Rights

Karpetz v Syncrude Canada Ltd., 2024 AHRC 64 (C Dickins) is an Alberta Human Rights decision where an employer who had been the successful party in the main human rights action applied for a costs penalty against the unsuccessful complainant and against the Director of the AHRC. The Tribunal did not award costs to Syncrude.

This decision is important because it contains some analysis about when the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal will or will not likely award costs in a human rights hearing.

Facts

The following were the facts summarized by the AHRT:

• The complainant Kelly Karpetz had alleged in her unsuccessful complaint that the respondent employer in this case, Syncrude Canada Ltd., discriminated against the complainant on the basis of physical disability in employment