Human Rights Law Conference 2024: Combo

Course Chairs
Sandra F. Guarascio (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Lindsay Waddell (she/her) — Moore Edgar Lyster LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Sandra Guarascio (she/her) is a partner with Roper Greyell LLP. She has been recognized by Lexpert, Best Lawyers Canada, and Who's Who Legal for her work in workplace human rights. She assists public and private sector employers by providing balanced, strategic, and proactive representation and advice for unionized and non–unionized environments. Sandra practices in all areas of employment and labour law, with a particular interest in human rights and respectful workplace issues. She is an experienced investigator, advocate, facilitator and speaker, and has conducted numerous workshops dealing with management issues, discrimination, accommodation, and workplace harassment and bullying.

Sandra clerked with the BC Supreme Court and was called in 2002. She has been the co-chair of CLEBC's award winning annual two-day Human Rights Conference since 2007.

Lindsay Waddell (she/her) is a partner at Moore Edgar Lyster LLP, where she practices human rights, labour, administrative, constitutional, and professional regulatory law. She acts for public and private sector unions, individuals, and professional regulators on a wide variety of matters.

Lindsay is an experienced litigator who has appeared as counsel at all levels of court and in front of all manner of administrative tribunals. When not litigating, Lindsay also conducts independent investigations for institutional clients.

Lindsay is frequently asked to teach and present to audiences on a wide range of subjects including human rights, labour law, advocacy, and ethical issues. She is co-chair of the Human Rights Subsection of the CBABC, a regular panelist for Lancaster House, and an instructor at the Canadian Labour Congress Winter School. 

Welcome
Elder Xwechtaal Dennis Joseph — Squamish Nation

Xwechtaal (kwitchtall) is an Elder Statesman from the Squamish Nation, where he worked for 40 years and served 28 consecutive years on Chiefs and Council. He is a founding volunteer member of the Squamish Nation Peacekeepers where their mandate was to observe, record, and report. The Peacekeepers worked with local police detachments to keep their communities safe. Dennis has a deep commitment to his community, his culture, his family and he is an ambassador for Squamish Nation. Dennis is a visionary and has been taught from his youth by his parents, his aunts and uncles, and his grandparents to always look ahead and work for generations that will come behind him. After spending 28 years on his political career, he now works to educate others on who we are, what we have lived, how to make changes, and work as allies in this world as Indigenous people.

Dennis also has five national championships in lacrosse and continues to be a contributor to the sport as a teacher.

Planning Committee
Devyn Cousineau (she/her) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Koml Kandola (she/her) — Kandola Arbitration Services Ltd., North Vancouver
Raji Mangat (she/her) — Executive Director, West Coast LEAF, Vancouver
Jitesh Mistry (he/him) — Jitesh Mistry, Labour Arbitration and Mediation Services, Burnaby
Sonya Sabet-Rasekh (she/her) — BC General Employees' Union, Burnaby
Harmit Sarai (she/her) — Forte Workplace Law, Surrey
Lauren Soubolsky (she/her) — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver
Laura Track (she/her) — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
Robyn P.M. Trask (she/her) — BC Labour Relations Board, Vancouver
David G. Wong (he/him) — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Kristen Woo (she/her) — Legal Counsel, BC Public School Employers Association, Vancouver

Faculty
Jonathan Blair (he/him) — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
Mark Bout (he/him) — Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Vancouver  
Jonathan Chapnick (he/him) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver 
Devyn Cousineau (she/her) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Robin Dean (she/her) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver 
Alissa Demerse (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver 
Jessica Derynck (she/her) — Vice-Chair, BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Kasari Govender, KC (she/her) — Human Rights Commissioner of BC, Victoria
Katherine A. Hardie (she/her) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Carly Hyman (she/her) — Senior Staff Lawyer, BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, Victoria
Eleni Kassaris (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Gita Keshava (she/her) — Ethos Law Group LLP, Vancouver
Kevin Love (he/him) — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
Madeline Lusk (she/her) — Harris & Company LLP, Vancouver
Fiona McFarlane (she/her) — Kane Shannon & Weiler LLP, Surrey
Christopher M. McHardy (he/him) — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver 
Kelty McKerracher (she/they) — Miller Titerle Law Corporation, Vancouver
Jitesh Mistry (he/him) — Jitesh Mistry, Labour Arbitration and Mediation Services, Burnaby
Tamara Napoleon (she/her) — Miller Titerle Law Corporation, Vancouver
Emily Ohler (she/her) — Chair, BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Catherine Repel (she/her) — Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver
Satkaran Sandhu (she/her) — BC General Employees' Union, Burnaby
Maria Sokolova (she/her) — Staff Lawyer – Inquiries and Investigations, BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, Vancouver 
Lauren Soubolsky (she/her) — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver
Edward M. Takayanagi (he/they) — BC Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver
Laura Track (she/her) — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
David G. Wong (he/him) — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributors
Matthew Allard — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Jessica Hoskins — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver
Fabian Jankovic — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Victoria Merritt — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver

Click here for Day 1 faculty bios

Click here for Day 2 faculty bios

• key cases
• analysis and trends
• effects on practice

• the Tribunal's authority to dismiss under s. 27(1)(d)(ii) where the respondent has already taken reasonable and effective steps to remedy or otherwise resolve the alleged discrimination
• recent decisions and a discussion of what respondents must do upstream to address alleged discrimination, in order to potentially avoid the downstream expense and uncertainty of a hearing before the tribunal

• the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation
• ethical obligations on the profession and the role of legal professionals
• legal education and working with Indigenous legal orders
• the need for truth before reconciliation

• new duties for employers arising from 2024 amendments to the Workers Compensation Act, such as
  • duty to maintain injured worker's employment and accommodate worker
  • duty for employers and workers to communicate with each other and with WorkSafeBC with respect to a worker's return to work
• which workers and employers are covered by these new provisions and what WorksafeBC can do to enforce them
• impacts on other decision-makers like the labour arbitrators and the Human Rights Tribunal, and human rights practice generally
• practical application of these duties in BC and similar provisions outside our jurisdiction and strategic tips with respect to mitigating risks for clients

• preliminary applications—tips for effective and timely applications
• applications to dismiss—tips for legal submissions, evidence, and on when respondents might get leave to file them in the first place 
• how to get the most out of case management and pre-hearing conferences 
• hearings—tips for a more efficient hearing process 
• under-utilized resources and strategies

• review and update of significant BC Supreme Court, BC Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of Canada cases

• issues: delay, access to justice, costs
• initial steps of the complaint process
  • screening decisions
  • service
  • submissions on preliminary timing
  • response and mediation timing
• Case Path Pilot
  • purpose
  • impact
  • effectiveness
    • fairness
• where do we go from here?

• similarities and differences between CHRT and BCHRT
• summary of cases in three categories—employment, services, governance (elections and membership)

• what is caste and how does caste discrimination manifest in BC? (e.g., housing, the workplace, and schools)
• what has been the experience thus far in developing caste as a ground of discrimination?
• what are the challenges moving forward? factors to consider for both lawyers and decision makers when met with cases of caste-based discrimination

• this presentation will explore the ability of employees to engage in acts of expression within or outside of the workplace, on topics related or unrelated to the workplace, and how employees and employers alike can navigate such expression 
• specific topics will include the applicability of Charter rights, the Human Rights Code's protections of political belief and prohibitions on hate speech, and an employee's right to expressive activity as contrasted with an employer's ability to regulate on- and off-duty conduct or terminate employment as a result of such activity
• decisions within and out of BC will be explored to not only provide an overview of current jurisprudence, but also where it may be headed in the coming months and years