The appeal concerned whether dismissal from employment after the employee's spouse and child accused the employer of past sexual abuse constituted discrimination based on marital status and family status.
The court held that under the Human Rights Code, marital and family status include not only the fact of being married or in a parent-child relationship, but also the identity of the spouse and family members.
The court rejected the view that discrimination analysis turns on whether the complainant belongs to a historically disadvantaged group, emphasizing that the Code protects individuals arbitrarily disadvantaged on enumerated grounds.
Because the employee was dismissed based on assumptions arising from his relationship to his spouse and child rather than his own conduct or merit, the dismissal was discriminatory.
The appeal was allowed and the matter remitted to the Board of Inquiry on remedy.
