Sex and Sexual Harrasment
Justine Blainey v. Ontario Hockey Association
In May of 1986, 15-year-old Justine Blainey tried out for a position on the Etobicoke Canucks Peewee ‘A’ boys’ hockey team. On the basis of her skill and ability, Ms. Blainey was offered a position on the team for the 1986-1987 hockey season. However, Mr. Bob Impey, the president of the Etobicoke Canucks, advised that Blainey was ineligible to play on the team due to her sex. The decision to barr Blainey from the team was consistent with the Ontario Hockey Aassociation’s (OHA) restricted integration policy, which prohibited females from playing on male teams except when there is no comparable all-female team in the relevant geographic area. Organized women’s hockey is operated by the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA).
The OHA and OWHA contended that the hockey program offered by the OWHA was a special program and as such was protected under the human rights code. However, special program status does not require all females to play on OWHA teams. The evidence in the case was not found to support the contention that women playing on men’s teams would undermine women’s hockey in the province. Denying Ms. Blainey a position on the Etobicoke Canucks hockey team because of her sex was unlawful and in violation of her rights under section 1 of the Human Rights Code.
Justine Blainey
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Nicole Curling vs. Victoria Tea Company
Nicole Curling, a college graduate ready and eager to enter the workforce at the Victoria Tea Company where she was hired in the early 1990s, was instead met with constant sexual harassment, intimidation, and ultimately, massive legal fees. At age 21, Curling complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) when her boss Alexander Torimiro kissed her on the mouth, fondled her buttocks and pressed himself against her despite her repeated insistence that she was not interested. Torimiro, embarrassed that his sexual advances were rejected and by the human rights case, retaliated with his own civil case for $1.5 million dollars against Curling for “slanderous and defamatory statements” made in her OHRC case.
Torimino was found guilty of discrimination by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. However, since there is no law or mechanism to enforce payment the Commission was unable to compel him to pay the original $2,000 fine or the additional $40,000 fine for emotional distress. Curling later discovered that her complaint, launched in 1993, wasn’t the first against Torimino. He had previously been found guilty by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for harassing another young female employee.
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