Item - 2019.GL7.14

The General Government and Licensing Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council receive the report (August 23, 2019) from the Chief People Officer, People and Equity, for information.

This report analyzes data on harassment and discrimination inquiries and complaints made in 2017 and 2018 by City of Toronto employees and service recipients/facility users through the following complaint paths: the City's (internal) Human Rights Office (HRO); the City's grievance/arbitration procedures; the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO); and the Ministry of Labour (MOL). The report identifies complaint trends and various initiatives undertaken by the HRO to minimize legislative and policy breaches, thereby mitigating risks to the City.  

The following are some of the notable trends from an analysis of the 2017 and 2018 HRO data.

2017 Trends:

-  Non-human rights code-related workplace harassment, disability, and sexual harassment were the most often cited consultation and/or complaint grounds to the HRO (see Table 3).

-  Disability consultations and/or complaints rose 6.5 percent in 2017 (see Table 3).

-  For the first time, the HRO had an increase in concerns about reprisal with a 44 percent increase in the number of times it was cited to the HRO (see Table 3).

 
2018 Trends:

-  For the first time in three years, the number of times family status was cited to the HRO sharply increased by 67 percent (see Table 3).

-  Although the number of times creed/religion was cited in 2018 stayed the same, the number of times colour was cited climbed by more than 64 percent and race citations increased by almost 40 percent (see Table 3).

-  There was a marked 33 percent increase in the number of sexual harassment consultations and/or complaints to the HRO (see Table 3).
 

The HRO's neutral, alternative dispute resolution approach has proven to be both a viable alternative to more adversarial formal complaint avenues (i.e., grievance arbitration, the HRTO, and the MOL) and an effective mechanism to advance equity. The HRO will continue to monitor complaint trends and promote dispute resolution services to all employees and members of the public. Under the Ontario Health and Safety Act, the HRO is required to review its Human Rights and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination policy annually. A 2018 review resulted in no changes to the policy.