The Yukon Human Rights Act protects people from discrimination based on certain personal characteristics. These personal characteristics are called protected grounds of discrimination. There are 14 grounds of discrimination in Yukon.

The Yukon Human Rights Act protects people from discrimination in specific social areas. These are called protected areas of discrimination. In Yukon, there are 5 protected area:

• Employment, and any aspect of employment;
• Receiving goods and services;
• Housing, leasing or renting;
• Membership in or representation by trade unions or professional associations; and
• Public Contracts.

An accommodation is any change in the environment, standards, or requirements that allows a person with limitations in their abilities to equally and reasonably participate in society.

The duty to accommodate is a positive duty on those persons operating in any of the protected areas to reasonably accommodate needs arising from protected grounds. The duty to accommodate recognizes that people have different needs and require different solutions to participate equally in society.

Accommodation is an ongoing process that requires both parties to work together. While there is an obligation to provide reasonable accommodation, the party requesting the accommodation must be willing to try proposed accommodations and provide constructive feedback if the accommodations are not meeting their needs.

Accommodations must be reasonable and need not necessarily be the individual’s ideal or preferred accommodations, so long as they address the limitations faced by the individual. For example, a person using a wheelchair may require an accessible entrance. The individual may prefer that an elevation device be installed, but it could be reasonable to have a ramp installed instead.

There are also limitations to the duty to accommodate. Individuals and organizations only have a duty to accommodate up to the point of undue hardship. There are also bona fide occupational requirements. For example, it is an occupational requirement that pilots have adequate vision to safely fly a plane. Therefore, it would be impossible to accommodate someone who is blind in a pilot’s position for safety reasons.

For more information on accommodations, check out our webpage on the duty to accommodate.

Section 14(2) – “harass” means to engage in a course of vexatious conduct or to make a demand or a sexual solicitation or advance that one knows or ought reasonably to know is unwelcome. For harassment to fall under the Yukon Human Rights Act, it must be based on a protected ground of discrimination.

Harassment not related to a protected ground, such as general workplace disputes, or performance management disputes which do not engage a protected ground do not fall under human rights protections.

For more information on discriminatory harassment, check out our webpage “What is Harassment?”

The Commission can only investigate complaints dealing with discrimination as defined in the Yukon Human Rights Act.

There are some kinds of discrimination complaints that the Commission cannot investigate:

Some complaints of discrimination may fall under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Commission if they involve:

• federal government services or employers,
• inter-provincial businesses such as trucking companies, airlines, telecommunications, banks, and other federally regulated activities.
• First Nation Governments

The Commission cannot investigate complaints that are clearly without substance or are intended merely to cause harm to another person. These are referred to as complaints that are “frivolous or vexatious.”

Once a member of the public submits a complaint to the Commission, the Complaint Process can take anywhere from 1-5 years, or more, to complete.

Some complaints, once accepted for investigation, are resolved in a few months. However, many complaints take longer to resolve. How long it takes to resolve an accepted complaint depends on many things such as the existing workload of the Commission, the availability of information and witnesses, and the amount of information needed. In certain cases, the process can take years, especially if a full investigation and public hearing are involved. In certain exceptional circumstances, such as the imminent death of a party, the Commission can give special priority to the complaint. Informal resolution (settlement) often resolves complaints quicker and gives more power to the parties over the outcome, remedies, and costs associated with the complaint.

To learn more about informal resolution, see “What kinds of remedies are available through the human rights complaint process?” FAQ or the Complaint Process webpage.

The human rights complaint process is not a punitive process. Remedies are designed to restore the complainant to a position as near as possible to the position they would have been in if the discrimination did not occur. As such, remedies depend on the nature of the proven discrimination, the impact of the discrimination on the complainant, and what would be required to restore the complainant to their original circumstances. Some examples of potential remedies are orders by the Panel of Adjudicators to:

• stop the discrimination;
• rectify any condition that causes the discrimination;
• pay damages for any financial loss suffered as a result of the discrimination;
• pay damages for injury to dignity, feelings, or self-respect;
• pay exemplary damages if the contravention was done maliciously; or
• pay costs.

Damages for injury to dignity, feelings or self-respect have generally been awarded under $5,000 in Yukon. Damages for financial loss may be significantly higher if someone’s employment or ability to work has been impacted.

Informal Resolution (settlement)

One of the roles of the Commission, as set out in the Yukon Human Rights Act, is to promote the settlement of complaints. The settlement process is where a complainant and respondent agree to try and resolve a human rights complaint. It is a voluntary process.

If the complaint is settled rather than going to a hearing, the settlement agreement may contain any terms agreed to by all parties. Some frequently requested remedial terms include obligations to develop or amend policies or procedures to prevent future incidents of discrimination, or human rights training for management or employees. Settlement agreements almost always contain a confidentiality clause.

Anyone who feels that they have been discriminated against in Yukon may file a human rights complaint.

Only if you are a parent or guardian filing on behalf of a minor, or if you have authority to file on someone else’s behalf as their power of attorney or court-appointed guardian.

Otherwise, if a person is of the age of majority and has legal capacity, they would need to file a complaint on their own behalf. There are certain details and information that only the impacted individual can provide, and so the person named in a complaint would be expected to be involved in our process. However, with written consent or legal representation, we can speak with another person to assist the individual looking to file a complaint.

In most cases, yes.

No. A human rights complaint may only be filed for oneself, or for an individual under their legal care.

A human rights complaint may be filed against any individual or any territorially regulated organization in Yukon. If the organization is the Federal Government, a First Nation’s Government, or a federally regulated organization such as an airline, the complaint must be filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

You do not need to face the person you are complaining about in person. However, you will be required to participate in the complaint process by engaging with the Respondent’s position and participating in the investigation.

The Yukon Human Rights Act has a specific section – section 35 – that deals with the liability of corporations for the acts of their employees. If there is an organizational respondent, it usually is not necessary to name individual respondents who were acting in the regular course of their employment or duties.

This is different for allegations of harassment. If your complaint alleges harassment, then you may wish to name the person who harassed you as an individual respondent.

In cases of harassment, an employer is generally not liable for the conduct of a harassing employee if the employer was not aware of the discriminatory act, unless the harasser was a management employee. An employer will be responsible if it failed to prevent the harassment or failed to take appropriate steps to address the harassment as soon as it was brought to their attention.

It is important to note that you can bring a complaint against multiple respondents in the same complaint. A single complaint can have allegations against individual and/or corporate respondents. During the screening phase, the Director of the Commission will accept, partially accept, or dismiss the complaint against each named respondent.

If you are unclear about the jurisdiction of an issue you have experienced or have other questions, please contact us. Commission staff are best suited to answer your questions regarding jurisdiction and can refer you to the appropriate organization if necessary.

There is no charge to speak with a Commission staff member or to submit a complaint. However, please keep in mind the following:

False information

Section 26 of the Yukon Human Rights Act states that if a Board of Adjudication concludes that the complaint was based on information that the complainant knew to be false, the board may order the complainant to pay to the respondent’s legal costs and damages for injury to the respondent’s reputation.

Complaints that are frivolous or vexatious

As a statutory agency that investigates and screens human rights complaints, the Commission must ensure that complaints do not constitute an abuse of its own process. The Commission owes a duty of procedural fairness to both complainants and respondents as part of maintaining the integrity of its complaint system. Section 20 of the Yukon Human Rights Act gives the Commission discretion to dismiss frivolous or vexatious complaints in order to avoid wasting institutional and party resources. The Legislative Assembly has expressly conferred this discretion upon the Director of Human Rights as part of their responsibility for ensuring that complaints are dealt with in accordance with the Yukon Human Rights Act.

In general terms, the meaning of frivolous and vexatious complaint is a complaint that has no prospect of success, often brought to embarrass or annoy the respondent.

No, a lawyer is not required to participate in the complaints process. However, you may choose to have one if you like. Commission staff, including the Commission’s Legal Counsel, cannot provide you with legal advice. Commission staff can only provide you legal information about the Yukon Human Rights Act and corresponding case law, and the Commission’s complaint process.

No, it will not. The Commission is a neutral party that tries to resolve issues related to human rights. The Commission upholds the principles of procedural fairness when processing complaints. We do not require that any party hire a lawyer to interact with the human rights complaint process in Yukon.

Contact our office. An appointment will be made with a staff member who can provide information about human rights law, as well as contact information for other service providers, educators, or agencies that offer relevant programs and services. Commission staff will explain the complaint process and can provide you with the link to our online complaint portal or a hardcopy of the human rights complaint form or.

For support in filling out the complaint form via the portal or hardcopy, see the “How do I fill out the complaint form?” FAQ.

The complaint form can be filled out in several different formats. For information on how to access a complaint form, see “Filing a Human Rights Complaint” webpage. See below for information on how to fill out the complaint form.

If accommodations are needed to fill out the complaint form, please contact the Commission and a staff member will be happy to help.

Please note: Once you start a complaint on the portal, drafts cannot be saved and, for security purposes, the form will automatically time out after 1 hour of inactivity.

The complaint form is divided into four sections:

• “Section A: Complainant Information”;
• “Section B: Respondent Information”;
• “Section C: Complaint Details”; and
• “Section D: Declaration and Signature”.

Each section will be explained in turn.

Section A: Complainant Information

Generally, if you are filling out the form, you are the complainant. There are a few exceptions, such as minors, who can have a parent or guardian fill out the form on their behalf, or those who do not have legal capacity, in which case their guardian or power of attorney will fill it out on their behalf.

On the form, we ask that you provide your first name, last name, pronouns, mailing address (this does not need to be the address where you live; however, it is the address that we will send correspondence to if necessary), phone number, and email address.

We also ask that you share any accommodations that you need to fully participate in the complaint process. If you have questions about accommodations, please contact the Commission.

Finally, in this part of the form you can provide an alternate contact. For more information on alternate contacts, please see the “What is an alternate contact?” FAQ.

Section B: Respondent Information

This is where you put the names and contact information for the individuals and/or organizations you name as a respondent. Respondents are the individuals or organizations who you wish to make the complaint against. A single complaint can be brought against multiple respondents. During the screening stage, if the complaint is accepted, the Director will decide which respondents the complaint is accepted or partially accepted against.

See the “When should I name an individual respondent and when should I name an organization as the respondent?” FAQ for more information.

Section C: Complaint Details

In this section, you are asked to provide all the relevant details of your complaint. You will need to select at least one protected area in which the discrimination occurred and at least one protected ground on which the alleged discrimination is based.

You will then need to tell us where and when the alleged discrimination took place, and whether you believe the alleged discrimination was systemic in nature or constituted harassment. Systemic discrimination is when the combined actions, policies, or procedures of a person or organization work together to cause discrimination. Harassment is a form of discrimination that includes a pattern of unwanted conduct, comment, or gesture that is reasonably known to be unwelcome.

The next part is the bulk of the complaint. It asks how and when you were discriminated against based on each ground and area selected. It is important to be as detailed as possible, including dates (or at least approximate dates) wherever you can. The Director uses this part to determine if the complaint meets the three-part prima facie discrimination test:

• you have a protected characteristic (ground) under the Yukon Human Rights Act;
• you experienced unfavourable treatment in a protected area under the Yukon Human Rights Act; and
• your protected characteristic was a factor in the unfavourable treatment that you experienced.

You need to meet all three parts of the test, or your complaint may not be accepted for investigation. The Director will also determine whether the respondent is within the Commission’s jurisdiction to investigate and whether the alleged discrimination occurred within the last 18 months. See here for more information on the initial screening criteria (also known as “reasonable grounds analysis”).

At this point, it is not necessary to provide evidence, as everything that you allege in your complaint will be taken to be true for the purposes of initial screening. If, taking everything to be true, there could be discrimination according to that test, then the complaint will be accepted for investigation/settlement.

The next part asks you to explain how the events described above have had a negative effect on you emotionally, physically, or financially. Again, at this stage evidence is not necessary, as everything will be taken to be true for the screening stage. Evidence may be required at a later stage.

You are then asked to explain any alternative procedures, if applicable, that have already engaged to potentially address the human rights issues alleged in the complaint. This is where you explain if there is a claim before another court, board, or agency; if you have a union grievance, active mediation or arbitration; or any other procedures being used to address the subject-matter of the complaint. To learn more about how an alternative procedure may impact your human rights complaint, see here.

Finally, if you selected employment as an area at the top of Section C, and you are a member of a union, you are asked to provide the name of your union and the name and contact information for your union representative. To learn more about how a union grievance may impact your human rights complaint, see here.

If the allotted space for Section C is insufficient for you to make your complaint, you can submit up to 15 pages of attachments to answer the questions in this Section. You can also use those 15 pages to submit evidence or supporting documents (though at this stage it is not necessary). Please note: the Director will only read 15 pages during the initial screening. If your complaint is accepted, you will be asked during the investigation to provide evidence supporting your complaint.

Section D: Declaration and Signature

It is important to read all 6 statements in the declaration before signing. If you do not sign this part, your complaint cannot be considered submitted by the Commission.

Remember that is it an offense to knowingly make a false claim; we encourage you to take the declaration seriously.

For the purposes of the Director’s initial screening to decide if a complaint should be accepted for investigation, they will assume the facts set out in your complaint are true. You do not have to provide evidence that supports those facts at this stage of the process. If you have evidence such as documents, photos or recordings that support the facts that your complaint is based on, you may choose to submit them with your complaint, for convenience’s sake, or keep them with you. If you do choose to submit documents with your complaint, a maximum of 15 pages will be reviewed for the purposes of acceptance. If you choose to submit more than 15 pages of documents, please clearly identify which 15 pages you would like to be reviewed for the purposes of acceptance.

In Section C of the complaint form, the complainant is asked to provide the details of the complaint, including a description of and when the alleged discrimination occurred, how the alleged discrimination has negatively impacted them, and whether the substance of the complaint is the subject of any alternative procedures. If the space allotted in the form is insufficient for you to provide all the necessary details of your complaint, you can submit answers to these parts as attachments (in which case they will count to the maximum of 15 pages of attachments).

 If your complaint is accepted and proceeds to an investigation, more documents may be requested and all submitted documents will be reviewed at that time.

It is essential that your complaint clearly identifies the facts which you believe indicate why you were treated unfavourably. For that reason, a complaint should not rely on supporting evidence to explain or expand upon its allegations.

In Section A of the complaint form, a complainant may list an “alternate contact”. If a complaint is accepted, the respondent can name one if they so choose.

An alternate contact is someone who you may want to support you through the complaint process and/or who the Commission could contact in the case that the Commission cannot reach you for an extended period. For example, they may be a family member, friend, or support worker.

If you have an alternate contact, there is a spot on the complaint form under “Section A: Complainant Information” to put their name, their relationship to you, and their contact information. You can also indicate whether you want your alternate contact to be copied on all correspondences, or only if the Commission cannot reach you.

It is possible to make changes to a complaint after it has been filed. All substantive changes, such as adding a new protected ground, are reviewed by the Director using the reasonable grounds analysis. This is the same analysis the Director applies to accept a complaint for investigation. Amending a complaint cannot be used to add issues which are outside the 18-month time limit.

We encourage the original complaint be as complete as possible. Adding more information later may slow down the complaint process. Having a complete and thorough complaint from the start also allows respondents to know precisely what they must respond to.

If a complaint is made against you, you will receive instructions on next steps in a letter accompanying the complaint. If you would like more information about human rights, the complaint process, or require accommodation to respond to the complaint, please contact the Commission.

You can also get more information on our “Responding to a Human Rights Complaint”.

The Commission treats all personal information as confidential. Personal information received by the Commission or any party must only be used for the purposes of administering a human rights complaint.

While the Commission process is confidential, all parties to the complaint have access to information submitted to the Commission for decision. In rare circumstances, information about a real and imminent danger may also be shared with the appropriate authority.

Information may also be made public if a decision of the Commission is challenged in court by a respondent or complainant, or if the complaint is later referred for adjudication. The majority of complaints are resolved without the need for a public hearing, and the complaint remains confidential to the parties. The Complainant can withdraw their complaint at any time.

The Commission will never disclose information about a complaint to an outside party, except if it is necessary for the investigation of the complaint. The Commission cannot force a Complainant or Respondent to keep a complaint confidential. However, publicly discussing or sharing information about a complaint may make settlement discussions much more difficult. Most settlement agreements contain a confidentiality clause prohibiting parties from publicly discussing the contents of the settlement agreement.

It is important to note that if a complaint is accepted, the Director will inform both the Complainant and the Respondent of their decision, and this involves disclosing the complaint to the Respondent. When this is done, “Section A: Complainant Information” is not included in the disclosure of the complaint so that the Respondent does not have the Complainant’s contact information. Throughout the complaint process, all the evidence that is provided by either of the parties will eventually be disclosed to the other party. This information and evidence is never disclosed to the public, unless the complaint goes to a public hearing, at which point evidence adduced during and in support of the hearing may be public, as well as the hearing itself.

The Commission has obligations to maintain records of all inquiries and complaints. This is consistent with our obligations to report on our work to the Legislative Assembly. The annual report to the Legislative Assembly cannot include any identifying information about any complaint except those which go to a hearing in front of a Board of Adjudication. The data regarding inquiries or complaints will only be used for purposes consistent with the Yukon Human Rights Act, such as statistical purposes.

The Commission understands the importance of confidentiality and maintains strict security standards for all personal information in our possession. All hard copies of documents are kept in a secure, locked location and only commission members and commission staff have access to these records. Where possible, electronic records are encrypted and stored on an on-premises server. If information is collected online, only trusted and secure applications are used, each with administrative, physical and technical safeguards in place. Access to personal information is controlled through role-based accounts with secure password protection. We employ enterprise grade anti-virus protection, and the network is protected by a firewall. We contract a professional IT Security company to perform regular audits of our network and strive to hold ourselves to the same IT security standard as organizations involved with health records.

The Commission takes matters of conflict of interest very seriously, especially given the small size of the Yukon community. This means the Commission implements various safeguards, which we manage in accordance with the Commission’s Conflict of Interest policy, which promotes procedural fairness and impartiality in our decision-making and all staff members are required to review this policy upon hiring.

If a conflict has been identified by a staff member, our case management system allows the Commission to restrict access to complaints so that any staff with a conflict of interest do not have access to the case or even see that the case exists in our system.

Our case management system also allows us to flag a conflict of interest so that those staff without a conflict and with permitted access can see that a conflict exists and the name of the conflicted staff member. This ensures that all staff are aware of the conflict and will not involve the conflicted staff member in any discussion or work on the case.

We remain committed to ensuring that complaints are addressed impartially and fairly.

No, the Commission is not subject to ATIPP. However, we recognize the importance of transparency in public services. We will generally provide as much information as possible about our process, or statistics around human rights complaints in Yukon, where the disclosure of that information does not risk identifying any individual, organization, or complaint. Any requests for information are considered on a case-by-case basis. The Commission retains the right not to disclose any information where it believes a risk to privacy or confidentiality exists.