In the 1980's the Supreme Court of Canada pre-emptively
ended the development of a common law tort of discrimination. The
case, Seneca
College v. Bhadauria, stands out as one of the lost
opportunities in the development of the common law in Canada. The
battle lines have re-emerged in the context of the development of
Ontario's new privacy tort – intrusion upon seclusion.
How it will play out is yet to be seen.
Bhadauria
Although the cases involving the tort of intrusion upon
seclusion do not mention Bhadauria — that case casts
a long shadow and is essential reading to understand what is
currently at stake for those who seek to advance a common law
privacy tort.
In Bhadauria, the plaintiff complained that she had
been repeatedly discriminated by the defendant college on the basis
of her ethnic origin. She had applied for 10 positions on the
teaching staff of the college and had never been granted an
interview. Bertha Wilson J.A., writing for a unanimous bench of
