Foreign Laws Create Human Rights Headaches For Canadian Employers

The reality of the global economy is that business decisions are frequently made based on factors from both inside and outside Canada's borders. Employers in industries that may be subject to foreign laws, regulations or decisions can face real challenges if those factors affect their Canadian legal obligations, particularly when it comes to human rights issues.  Throw in some uncertainty when a foreign decision is based on unknown security threats, and it can be a recipe for a long legal struggle.

Bombardier Inc. (Aerospace Training Centre) ("Bombardier") faced this issue, and over a decade of human rights proceedings, when it refused to train Javed Latif, a Canadian citizen who was born in Pakistan. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Bombardier and held that Mr. Latif had not been discriminated against on the basis of his ethnic or national origin, as he had alleged, in Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse) v