The Supreme Court of Canada has published on its website key information about this upcoming case.
Human Rights — Employment relationship — Partnerships — Court of Appeal holding that a partnership should not be treated as the employer of a partner for purposes of human rights legislation — Whether a substantive analysis of the interpretation of “employment” for the purposes of human rights, in a modern context, should be precluded by a threshold test of technical legal form.
The applicant is an equity partner in the respondent law firm, a limited liability partnership registered under the Partnership Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 348. He turned 65 years old in March 2010. Pursuant to a Partnership Agreement, absent an individual arrangement to the contrary, he was required to retire as an equity partner at the end of 2010. He filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal alleging that the respondent is discriminating against him in his employment, on the basis of age, contrary to s. 13 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210. The respondent applied to dismiss the complaint under ss. 27(1)(a) and (c) of the Code, on the grounds that the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the complaint and there is no reasonable prospect that it will succeed. The Tribunal dismissed the respondent’s application. The respondent sought judicial review.
Link to Webcast (live on Dec. 13th)
TevlinGleadle’s Murray Tevlin and John Chesko will represent Mr. McCormick at the hearing of this important case in Canadian employment law and human rights law.