Worker’s Conclusions About “Old Boys Network” Were Not Evidence of Discrimination

Worker brought discrimination claim against her employer and also against her union after her union representative allegedly failed to represent her with regard to her discrimination claims against her employer. She claimed the union was a male-dominated, “old boys club” and that the union representative said the employer’s supervisor could do whatever he wanted and she should start looking for another job. She claimed the union representative didn’t take her claims seriously and didn’t treat them the same as claims by male employees. Thus, she said the union representative was discriminating against her on the basis of sex. The tribunal found however that she hadn’t pointed to any evidence beyond her own conclusions to support her allegations of discrimination. Therefore the tribunal dismissed her complaint [Nassis v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 2076 (CanLII), Dec. 16, 2013].