The complainant, a 40-year-old man with a university degree, alleged that Ontario Hydro discriminated against him on the basis of age when an employment officer discouraged him from applying for an apprentice electrician position.
The Board of Inquiry conducted an extensive review of Canadian and American law on age discrimination and bona fide occupational qualifications.
The Board found that the respondent's hiring personnel held a stereotypical view that apprentices should be young and that the complainant was arbitrarily excluded from consideration because of his age, despite his lack of related journeyman experience.
The Board concluded that age was an unlawful motivating factor in the refusal to consider his application.
The respondent was ordered to cease contravening the Code and to reconsider the complainant's application on its merits without regard to age, though no damages were awarded.
