Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Ont.-funded Christian group to appeal part of ruling by human rights tribunal

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO - A provincially funded Christian group is appealing part of a tribunal ruling that found it violated the rights of a worker who had to quit after revealing she was gay.

Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal ordered Kitchener-based Christian Horizons to compensate Connie Heintz and to end a code-of-conduct agreement for its 2,500 employees.

The contract, which all staff must sign, forbids workers from cheating on their spouses, having pre-marital sex or homosexual relationships, using pornography, and "endorsing" alcohol or tobacco.

The group says it will no longer require employees to sign the agreement, but it will be appealing the remainder of the tribunal's order.

The evangelical organization is funded almost entirely by the province and operates more than 180 residential homes in Ontario for people with developmental disabilities.

The tribunal ordered Christian Horizons to compensate the former worker, launch basic human rights training for all employees, and adopt anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.

It was the second time the tribunal has had to deal with a complaint against the organization. In 1992, it was ordered to compensate two women who were fired for being in common-law relationships.

Opposition parties have called on the province to consider pulling funding from the group if it continues to impose its religious beliefs on its employees.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday he couldn't discuss the case because the matter is currently under appeal.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

4 comments:

Johnathon said...

What I think this organization should od is STOP helping those poor people out.

Shut the doors at the 180 houses and leave it up to the left wing liberals to cover the slack.

I'm not sure they could.

Anonymous said...

Probaly true -- if they just quit that would show all those disabled kids!

Anonymous said...

Hmm.. was the contract they made employees sign even legal in the first place? Are we talking about the 21st century here? Jesus (oops.. did I just take the Lord's name in vain?)

The contract, which all staff must sign, forbids workers from cheating on their spouses, having pre-marital sex or homosexual relationships, using pornography, and "endorsing" alcohol or tobacco.

Anonymous said...

It's probably not enforceable in a real court -- that's why the HRC was involved in the first place!