Professional Services Partnerships And Human Rights Legislation

The Supreme Court of Canada has established the scope of the definition of "employee" in human rights legislation, holding that an equity partner in a law firm does not amount to an employee for the purposes of the British Columbia Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.210 (the "Code"). This case will have implications for equity partners in a range of professional organizations, including law and accounting firms.

In McCormick v. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, 2014 SCC 39, per Abella J., the plaintiff had been an equity partner at the defendant law firm since 1979. The firm had a Partnership Agreement which stated that equity partners had to divest their ownership shares in the partnership at the end of the year in which they turned 65 years old. A partner could make individual arrangements at that point to continue working as an employee or a "regular" partner. The plaintiff alleged that the mandatory retirement provision in the Partnership Agreement amounted to age