Automobile insurance rate classifications based on age, sex, and marital status violate the Human Rights Code.
The complainant, a 20-year-old single male, alleged that Zurich Insurance Company discriminated against him on the basis of age, sex, and marital status by charging him a higher automobile insurance premium than it charged young females, young married males, or single males over 25.
Zurich admitted a prima facie case of discrimination but argued the rates were justified under section 21 of the Human Rights Code as being based on reasonable and bona fide grounds.
The Board of Inquiry applied the Etobicoke test for a bona fide occupational qualification, adapting it to the insurance context.
The Board found that Zurich failed to establish a direct causal relationship between the discriminatory factors and higher risk, noting that age, sex, and marital status were merely proxies for other factors like mileage and social habits.
Furthermore, Zurich failed to demonstrate that non-discriminatory rate classifications were impractical or that the essence of its business would be undermined without them.
The Board concluded that the rate classifications contravened the Code and ordered the hearing to resume to determine the appropriate remedy.
