Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Any form of bigotry short of assault or discrimination under the charter is just another one of the myriad forms of being of being unpleasant. And being unpleasant isn't illegal. And if it was, most people are probably guilty of one form or another in the subjective opinion of some of their fellow citizens.
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This is patently untrue. For example, s. 319 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to incite hatred against any identifiable group. The Supreme Court of Canada found (albeit by a narrow 4-3 majority) that s. 319 did not offend s. 2(b) of the Charter.
In any event, the person in question here was not charged under s. 319. The state imposed no penalty for his offensive beliefs. It was his employer who chose to terminate his employment as they are entitled to do at any time and for any reason. The real issue is whether or not this employee's off-duty misconduct was severe enough to constitute "just cause" for dismissal. If so, he is entitled to no notice period or severance. If not, then he is entitled to notice. My sense is that employers with increasingly diverse labour forces and client bases will find it increasingly easier to prove "just cause" for this type of behaviour from their employees.