Human Rights Commission Tackles Racial Profiling

This year, a Nova Scotia Human Rights Board of Inquiry issued a highly publicized decision on racial profiling. In the case, the Board concluded that a woman had been discriminated against on the basis of her race and/or colour when wrongfully accused of shoplifting at a grocery store. In her decision on remedy, the Board Chair ordered Sobeys Group Inc. to:

• issue a written apology to the Complainant for its discriminatory treatment
• pay the Complainant general damages of $21,000.00 plus 2.55 per cent interest from 2009
• at its own cost, participate in training approved by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission with respect to consumer racial profiling, discrimination based on race, colour, and perceived source of income