The complainant was hired as a spare housekeeper at the respondent hospital, where her husband also worked in the maintenance and housekeeping department.
The hospital administrator terminated her employment upon discovering her marital status, citing an unwritten policy against spouses working in the same department.
The Board of Inquiry found this constituted prima facie discrimination on the basis of marital status.
The Board rejected the employer's defences, holding that the restriction was not a bona fide occupational qualification under section 23(b) of the Human Rights Code, and that the nepotism exemption in section 23(d) only applies to the initial granting or withholding of employment, not to the termination of an existing employee.
The complainant was awarded damages for lost wages and general damages.
