Race discrimination complaint regarding substandard housing dismissed, but damages awarded for reprisal after complaint filed.
The complainant, a tenant of Cambodian ancestry, alleged that her landlord discriminated against her and other Asian tenants by failing to maintain their apartment building and by making racial slurs.
The Board of Inquiry found that while the living conditions were deplorable, they affected all tenants regardless of race and therefore did not constitute unequal treatment under section 2 of the Human Rights Code.
However, the Board found that the landlord engaged in unlawful reprisal under section 8 of the Code by cutting off the complainant's electricity, illegally raising her rent, and issuing an eviction notice after she filed her human rights complaint.
The landlord was ordered to pay $2,500 in general and punitive damages.
Chippheng Hom v. Elijah Elieff and Elieff Investments Ltd., 1994 CanLII 18428
