Human Rights Complaints Process

Overview

FAQ's

In Detail

TAKE NOTE (Disclaimer):
Any reference to the “Unofficial Consolidation” of the Yukon Human Rights Act or Regulations refers to documents which incorporate the new 2009 amendments to the Act and Regulations. When using the legislation for official purposes, individuals should refer to the official original documents of the Acts and Regulations printed and published by the Yukon Queen’s Printer which are available from queens.printer@gov.yk.ca or at the Yukon Public Law Library yukon.law.library@gov.yk.ca and at Yukon public libraries.

The Yukon Human Rights Act (140Kb PDF) | Yukon Human Rights Act French Version (76Kb PDF) was first enacted in 1987 to promote and protect human rights in the Yukon. Under the Act, it's illegal to discriminate against people in several areas of public life, including employment and tenancy, on the basis of any prohibited ground such as ancestry, age, or sex.

Anyone who has reasonable grounds for believing that he/she has experienced discrimination covered by the Yukon Human Rights Act may file a complaint.

The Commission investigates complaints and tries to resolve situations of discrimination. We encourage people involved in situations of discrimination to try and solve it themselves if possible and the Commission can give advice on how to do this. However if a person does not want to do this or a person tries and it doesn’t work, he/she can file a complaint. Once a complaint is filed, the Commission staff will help the people involved to solve the problem if they are willing. If not, or if it doesn’t work, the Commission’s investigator will investigate the complaint.

After a complaint has been filed, the Commission will review it to decide whether it is within the jurisdiction (authority or power) of the Commission to deal with it or within the 18 month time limitation, or whether or not it is frivolous or vexatious. The Commission will not accept complaints beyond 18 months unless it is satisfied that the delay in making the complaint was not in bad faith and no one will experience prejudice as a result of the delay.

The Commission may decide not to investigate a complaint when the person who made the complaint:

• declines a settlement offer  that the Commission considers fair and reasonable; or
• has used or could  first use other processes such as internal grievance or review procedures, which are available within an organization; or
• abandons his/her complaint; or
• fails to cooperate with the investigation.

The Commission may refer complaints to the Board of Adjudication for hearing without investigation in certain cases such as where:

• a speedy resolution is needed because of urgent circumstances; or
• there is agreement on the facts but not on how the law applies to the facts; or
• there are no witnesses to the alleged discrimination and the person who made the complaint (complainant) and the person or organization whom the complaint is against (respondent) do not agree on what happened.

Commission investigations usually involve hearing both sides, interviewing witnesses and gathering documents and other evidence. The Commission’s investigations are done in a neutral way. The investigator completes a report which is given to the person who made the complaint, as well as the person the complaint is against. Each of them can provide their comments on this report. Those comments and the report are read by the Commission members who decide:

• whether or not to dismiss the complaint or
• forward it for settlement or
• refer it to a Board of Adjudication hearing.

Decisions of the Commission are final, but either side may ask a judge to review them.

The Board of Adjudication is completely independent and separate from the Commission. It hears human rights complaints in a public hearing and decides whether or not discrimination happened. If it did, the Board can order remedies to remedy the situation. Decisions of the Board may be appealed to Yukon Supreme Court.

If you feel you have experienced discrimination and want to consider making a complaint, contact us by telephone or come into our office for an interview.