A group of university professors and a librarian challenged mandatory retirement policies at age 65 and the exclusion of those over 65 from employment discrimination protection under provincial human rights legislation.
The majority held that universities were not part of government for Charter purposes under s. 32, so their retirement policies were not directly subject to Charter review.
The Court further held that the statutory exclusion of workers aged 65 and over from protection against age discrimination infringed s. 15(1), but was justified under s. 1 in light of the legislature's cautious approach to complex labour market, pension, and workplace-organization concerns.
The appeal was dismissed, with dissenting judges finding the Charter applicable to universities and rejecting the statutory justification.
