Simon's Legal Resources

Labour (Fed) - Discrimination

. Sahadeo v. Canada (Attorney General)

In Sahadeo v. Canada (Attorney General) (Fed CA, 2026) the Federal Court of Appeal partially allowed a labour JR, this brought against an FPSLRE Board decision allowing the employee's grievances "concerning several disciplinary measures" and an employment termination during "training under the Officer Induction Development Program (OIDP) to become a Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer".

The court considers the test for a finding of discrimination, here at the FPSLRA grievance level:

[25] Ms. Sahadeo acknowledges that the Board applied the correct legal test on this issue, which required her to establish a prima facie case of discrimination by demonstrating, on a balance of probabilities, that (i) she has a protected characteristic, (ii) she experienced an adverse impact, and (iii) the protected characteristic was a factor in the adverse impact. The Board also recognized in paragraph 475 of the Decision that it was not necessary for Ms. Sahadeo to prove that her employer intended to discriminate, and that the Board’s role was to examine all the circumstances, including circumstantial evidence, to determine if there was the subtle scent of discrimination. That said, the Board noted that mere suspicions of discrimination are not sufficient.