Media Room

2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

06/02/2000

Tribunal To Hear Aboriginal Woman's Racial Discrimination Complaint

Ottawa -- June 2, 2000 (Amended June 20, 2000) -- An Aboriginal woman who says she was denied job opportunities because of her race and ethnic origin will appear before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in June in Montreal.

Jeanne d'Arc Vollant of Brossard, Quebec filed complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission against her employer, Health Canada, and her two supervisors. Ms. Vollant, who had worked as an interpreter with Health Canada for approximately

10 years, says she was discriminated against on the basis of her race and ethnic origin when she was denied employment opportunities and a harassment-free work environment. The hearings will take place from June 13 to 16 at the Federal Court of Canada, 33 McGill Street.

In June, the Tribunal will hold hearings in four other cases at its headquarters in Ottawa at 473 Albert Street.

• A tribunal will continue looking into pay equity complaints filed against Bell Canada by the Canadian Telephone Employees' Association (CTEA), the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), and a Montreal-based employees' group, Femmes-Action. These organizations represent more than 20,000 employees throughout Bell Canada's workforce. The complainants allege that people in predominantly female jobs were paid less than those in predominantly male jobs for work of equal value. The hearings will take place from June 26 to 30.
• The hearing into the pay equity complaint filed by the Union of Northern Workers, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, will continue on June 20, 2000. The Union alleges that the Government of the Northwest Territories discriminated against its employees in female job categories by paying them less than employees in male dominated jobs for work of equal value.*

* A previous press release incorrectly suggested that the delay in having this matter heard by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal was due to motions having been brought by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

• A tribunal will continue looking into the pay equity complaint by the Public Service Alliance of Canada against Canada Post. The Alliance alleges that 2,300 clerical workers, mostly women, perform work of equal value to letter carriers and postal workers, who are mostly men and earn more. The hearings will take place in Ottawa from June 12 to 15.
• A tribunal will continue hearing the racial discrimination complaint of public servant Shiv Chopra. In 1992, Dr. Chopra filed a complaint with the CHRC alleging that Health Canada discriminated against him on the ground of race when he was denied promotion to a director-level position. The complaint was subsequently dismissed by a human rights tribunal, but in April 1998 the Federal Court's Trial Division found that the tribunal had erred when it refused to admit statistical evidence that visible minorities were under-represented in management positions within Health Canada. The Court ordered that the complaint be sent back to the tribunal. The hearings will take place June 2, 5, and 19.

Hearings start at 9:30 a.m. local time.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is an independent body responsible for adjudicating complaints referred to it by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Commission refers a complaint to the Tribunal when it believes further inquiry into a complaint is warranted.

For more information:

Jocelyne Limoges
Media and External Relations
(613) 943-9119