A decision made by the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has CUPE 21 filling an application with the Court of King’s Bench to overturn it.
The decision was made at the request of the City of Regina. In that decision, the WCB agreed with the city’s argument that workers are barred from seeking damages under section 40 of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code (SHRC) for harm to their dignity and self-respect due to workplace sexual harassment.
CUPE 21, which represents around 2,000 City of Regina outside workers, says they have “a practice of holding the city accountable for human rights and workplace safety through the grievance procedure, and frequently seeks damages for its members under section 40 of the Code for harm to dignity and self-respect.”
Section 40 of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code guarantees that people who have been sexually harassed, as well as any individual who is harassed and humiliated as a result of racism, homophobia, country of origin, disability, or age, are entitled to compensation under the Code for harm to their dignity, feelings or self-respect.
CUPE said that if this decision is allowed to stand, it will have far-reaching impacts on every worker in Saskatchewan.
“It sets the precedent that any worker in the province who faces a human rights violation at work, private and public sector alike, will no longer have full access to the remedies under the Human Rights Code. This is despite the fact that human rights damages have been awarded in cases of workplace sexual harassment for many decades.”
They added that all workers should have the right to enjoy a harassment-free workplace, including the right to pursue all forms of statutory compensation in human rights violations.