Vancouver Human Rights and Accommodation Conference
Conference Co-Chairs
Conference Advisory Committee
Laura Track
Human rights lawyer
Director of the Community Legal Assistance Society’s Human Rights Clinic.
Director of Human Rights Clinic
Director of Public Legal Education
Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Workshop
*Workshop sold separately from stand-alone conference.
Jason Walker, Psy.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Program Director for Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology
Adler university
The investigation process is an important tool for addressing harassment and discrimination in the workplace. However, investigations may risk perpetuating harm if they are not conducted carefully. In this workshop, a panel of experts will discuss how to run investigations in a manner that supports the well-being of all parties involved and benefits the workplace at large. Throughout this full day workshop the panel will address the following questions:
- What is trauma, and how may it affect complainants before, during, and after the investigation process?
- Why is it important that workplace investigators adopt trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and intersectional approaches to the investigation process, especially when dealing with discrimination and harassment allegations?
- What steps should investigators take to address their own unconscious and implicit biases during the investigation process?
- What do trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and intersectional approaches to workplace investigations involve in practice? For example, how can investigators conduct interviews in a trauma-informed manner? What steps can they take to address parties’ accessibility needs throughout the investigation process? How can they bring inclusivity into their report writing?
- What is systemic discrimination, and how can investigators effectively address claims of systemic discrimination in the investigation process?
- What interim measures can employers put in place during the investigation process to ensure the well-being of the parties involved?
- What recourse can complainants seek if they disagree with the investigator’s findings?
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Breakfast: 8:00 am – 9:00 am PT
Opening remarks: 9:00 am – 9:05 am PT
In this session, panelists will delve into the numerous recent and significant developments in workplace human rights, examining key cases and legislative changes. Speakers will discuss the latest cases on topics such as:
- identifying and addressing stereotypes and/or bias;
- rights and restrictions relating to employee expression of personal or political views and beliefs at work;
- trends in discipline, damages, and arbitration;
- privacy, monitoring, and surveillance;
- remote work;
- substance use and testing;
- the intersection between health and safety concerns and human rights obligations; and
- key principles and best practices in investigating discrimination and harassment claims.
The panel will also address B.C. and federal legislative initiatives, including reporting requirements under the B.C. Pay Transparency Act and obligations under the federal Pay Equity Act.
Final selection of topics will take place in the weeks leading up to the conference, ensuring coverage of the latest and most newsworthy developments.
Break: 10:20 am – 10:35 am PT
In this session, panelists will provide expert guidance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at work, exploring the potential benefits and pitfalls of AI from a human rights perspective. Panelists will address questions such as:
- What federal and provincial laws regulate the use of AI? What legislative initiatives are currently the subject of debate and how may they impact workplace parties if passed? What other legal obligations and principles govern or restrict the use of AI at work?
- What key human rights considerations and privacy concerns are raised by the use of AI in the workplace? Does AI have the potential to reduce systemic discrimination and improve working conditions for equity-seeking employees?
- What human rights concerns are raised by the prospect of algorithmic management, defined as delegating to algorithms certain managerial tasks such as screening applications for employment, assessing employee performance, or even making decisions regarding the termination of employment?
- What lessons can be learned from recent cases in which arbitrators and adjudicators have addressed privacy concerns relating to the use of other evolving technologies in the workplace, such as biometric monitoring, audio and video surveillance, and GPS tracking?
- How can parties address through collective bargaining the human rights and privacy impact resulting from the use of AI in workplaces?
- What steps can employers and unions take to mitigate the risk of bias, discrimination, or other breaches of human rights when using AI?
Break: 11:35 am – 11:45 am PT
Lunch: 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm PT
As the political climate becomes increasingly polarized, domestically and abroad, employers must navigate how to cultivate a safe, healthy, and productive work environment while also respecting employees’ right to express their personal views. In this session, panelists will explore how employers and unions should respond to the exercise of political speech in the workplace, and in doing so will address the following questions:
- To what extent, if any, can employers limit political expression in the workplace? How may this differ for public-sector employees?
- How has the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal interpreted the meaning of “political belief”?
- When will the expression of political views rise to the threshold of discrimination and/or harassment?
- What kinds of policies and guidelines should an employer put in place to address politically-based conflict in the workplace? Where conflicts arise among employees, with respect to charges of discrimination and harassment, which member should the union represent?
- Can employers discipline employees for political expressions that are expressed outside of the workplace? For example, can an employer discipline a member for offensive posts made on social media?
- When are unions required to represent members who experience discipline for political expression? What does the union’s duty of fair representation require in these circumstances?
Break: 2:30 pm – 2:45 pm PT
In this interactive session, panelists will address scenarios based on real cases involving allegations of discrimination, examining legal principles for identifying and addressing subtle and systemic forms of discrimination as well as meeting obligations such as the duty to accommodate. Panelists will address questions such as:
- How have arbitrators and human rights tribunals resolved evidentiary and credibility challenges when determining whether discrimination has occurred?
- What contextual factors have decision-makers considered in determining whether conduct which may seem innocuous on its face is, in fact, a subtle form of discrimination?
- What factors should be considered in determining whether systemic discrimination has adversely impacted an employee?
- What aspects of a hiring or promotion process will render that process more or less vulnerable to challenge as discriminatory?
- How does the test for discrimination differ depending on the ground of discrimination that is alleged? For example, what unique considerations apply when determining whether an employee has been discriminated against on the basis of religion?
- When will a rule or standard that on its face appears to be discriminatory be justified as a bona fide occupational requirement? When will accommodating an employee amount to undue hardship?
- When will employers be held liable for the discriminatory conduct of employees toward other employees in the workplace?
Scenarios will be finalized in the weeks leading up to the conference, ensuring coverage of the most relevant cases.
Closing Remarks: 4:00 pm PT
