Way back in 2008, the Ontario Human Rights Code was
amended to permit human rights claims to be piggybacked onto
wrongful dismissal actions in the Ontario courts. Prior to
that time, the only recourse for an employee with a discrimination
claim was to make a complaint to the [then] Human Rights
Commission. Some 5 years later, the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice has recently released its very first decision in a
joint wrongful dismissal/discrimination action.
The case in question was the September decision of Justice
Grace in Wilson v. Solis Mexican Foods Inc. Patricia
Wilson was a 16 month employee at the time of her termination, and
off work due to back problems. The reason given for Ms.
Wilson's termination was a corporate reorganization, but
the court found that reasoning "[defied] common sense" as
Ms. Wilson was never told about the impending reorganization while
it was taking place. The court looked closely at the
communications between Ms. Wilson's
