Employers are often uneasy about having to pay out financial damages in a discrimination case, especially when the alleged incidents happened without their knowledge. While damages are often awarded, they are usually proportional to the incidents themselves.
If a matter goes before a court as part of a separate action, damages may be awarded in the most extreme circumstances, but are less likely for smaller incidents. Courts have been known to punish employers’ bad behaviour, but these sorts of damages are usually awarded for more serious misdeeds.
Human rights tribunals, however, may take a heavier hand. They will look closely at each allegation and how it was handled by the employer, but their primary purpose is to protect individuals who have been wronged. Provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia can also compensate individuals for ‘injury to dignity,’ so an employee’s damages may be increased if they can show a Human Rights Tribunal that they were emotionally damaged from the discrimination.
