Who, me? Could be: SCC extends protections regarding employment under the BC Human Rights Code

In a landmark case, the Supreme Court of Canada has extended the protection it offers to employees from discrimination in the workplace to encompass discrimination perpetrated by an individual with a different employer: British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal v. Schrenk, 2017 SCC 62.

This case answers in the affirmative the question of whether the BC Human Rights Code applies to discrimination perpetrated by someone other than the complainant's employer or superior.  The decision will have significant implications for employers and all those involved in the workplace.

The case involved two individuals who worked for two different employers at the same worksite.  Mr. Schrenk was employed by a contracting company (Clemas) as the site foreman.  Mr. Sheikhzadeh-Mashgoul was a civil engineer working for another consulting company and was the site administrator in charge of supervising the work done by Clemas. Schrenk repeatedly made a number of highly derogatory