A human rights tribunal in British Columbia has concluded a 52-year-old man was discriminated against because of his gender when a seniors home hired women instead of him.
In a rare reversal of roles, Ronald Morrison has been awarded almost $12,000 in compensation for discrimination on the basis of his sex by three female administrators at the seniors home in Nelson, B.C.
Morrison had applied to work as a registered care aide at the home in 2007. AdvoCare Home Health Services, a private company based in Kelowna, B.C., had a contract to provide services to the facility.
"Equal or better than"
B.C. Human Rights Tribunal member Marlene Tyshynski found Morrison's qualifications for the job were equal to or better than the women who were hired around the time he was applying for employment. She concluded AdvoCare administrators' rationale for not hiring Morrison was not credible.
Tyshynski stated that three administrators -- the chief operating officer Patricia Gutcher, Catherine Pistak, who interviewed Morrison for the job, and program manger Melanie Wright-Day -- had made "stereotypical gender-related assumptions."
They had unreasonably concluded that Morrison, whom Tyshynski described as a tall and muscular man, was aggressive and unsuitable for hire, she said.
Neither Morrison nor representatives from AdvoCare were available for comment.
An unusual case
Robyn Durling, spokesman for the B.C. Human Rights Coalition, a non-profit advocacy and education group, said in an interview that a case of discrimination against a man based on gender is rare. The coalition deals with less than a handful of such cases every year, he said.
However, Durling did not anticipate the ruling would serve as a precedent.
Morrison did not allege systemic discrimination, based on hiring exclusively females for the position of registered care aide. The ruling was specific to the circumstances in this complaint, said Durling.
In her ruling, Tyshynski said she found Morrison "a sincere witness" with credible testimony. She accepted his evidence where it was inconsistent with that provided by the AdvoCare administrators, giving their testimony little weight, she said.
Morrison applied for a position as a registered care aide on Aug. 10, 2007. He was interviewed five days later by Pistak. A woman was hired for the job. He applied again for another position with AdvoCare in December 2007.
Age a factor
He believed he was the victim of discrimination because he was an older man.
Tyshynski stated in her 35-page ruling that she did not have enough information about new employees who were hired around that time to determine whether age was a factor in the hiring decisions. But she found that Morrison was qualified for the position. The women who were hired over him were no better qualified than he was, Tyshynski stated.
