Canadian Court Dismsses Employer's Appeal In Religious Discrimination Case

In Syncrude Canada Ltd. v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2008 ABCA 217 (June 10, 2008), the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by an employer in a religious discrimination case. Electrician Devinder Wadhwa, a Sikh, originally filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against Syncrude Canada after it insisted that Wadhwa shave his beard in order to be able to wear a standard protective mask. Syncrude however claimed that it was not Wadhwa's "employer" under the statute, but the Commission disagreed. The court decided that the Human Rights Commission's initial determination that Syncrude was Wadhwa's employer is not a final order that is appealable to the courts. Canwest News Service yesterday reported on the court's decision.