Human rights complaint dismissed; unreasonable English proficiency requirement for bus driver did not constitute indirect discrimination based on Italian origin.
The complainant, an Italian-Canadian who immigrated in 1956, was employed as a temporary school bus driver.
When a permanent position opened, he was rejected and his temporary employment was terminated because the new Supervisor of Transportation Services deemed his English language proficiency inadequate.
The complainant alleged direct and indirect discrimination based on his Italian origin.
The Board of Inquiry found no direct anti-Italian bias.
While the Board found the English proficiency requirement to be unreasonable and not demonstrably related to the job, it concluded that the requirement adversely impacted functionally illiterate persons generally, rather than a group specifically identified by their Italian origin.
The complaint was dismissed.
Victor Romano v. Board of Education for the City of North York and G. L. Zumpano, 1987 CanLII 8547
