| Central Okanagan School District No 23 v Renaud | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hearing: Judgment: | |
| Citations | [1992] 2 SCR 970 |
| Docket No. | 21682 |
| Court membership | |
| Reasons given | |
| Unanimous reasons by | Sopinka J |
Central Okanagan School District No 23 v Renaud, [1992] 2 SCR 970 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision where the Court found that an employer was under a duty to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees to the point of undue hardship.
Larry Renaud was a unionized custodian in the Central Okanagan School District and a practicing Seventh-day Adventist. Under a collective agreement, Renaud was required to work on Friday evening. However, Renaud's faith forbade him from working sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. He proposed several forms of accommodations in which he would work Sunday to Thursday as a religious exception to the collective agreement. The school board rejected the alternatives and eventually terminated his employment.
Renaud brought a complaint on the grounds the school board violated section 8 of the British Columbia Human Rights Act for discrimination based on religion. The issues put to the Supreme Court was whether Renaud had been indirectly discriminated against and whether the school was under any duty to accommodate him.
Justice Sopkina, writing for a unanimous Court, held that there had been discrimination against Renaud. Sopinka found that an employer was under a duty to accommodate employees religious beliefs short of undue hardship, even despite any collective agreement or private contract.
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356 (2001), was a United States Supreme Court case about Congress's enforcement powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court decided that Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act was unconstitutional, insofar as it allowed states to be sued by private citizens for money damages.
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Compulsory Check-Off
Union dues to be deducted
70. (1) Where a trade union that is the bargaining agent for employees in a bargaining unit so requests, there shall be included in the collective agreement between the trade union and the employer of the employees a provision requiring the employer to deduct from the wages of each employee in the unit affected by the collective agreement, whether or not the employee is a member of the union, the amount of the regular union dues and to remit the amount to the trade union forthwith.
Religious objections
(2) Where the Board is satisfied that an employee, because of their religious conviction or beliefs, objects to joining a trade union or to paying regular union dues to a trade union, the Board may order that the provision in a collective agreement requiring, as a condition of employment, membership in a trade union or requiring the payment of regular union dues to a trade union does not apply to that employee so long as an amount equal to the amount of the regular union dues is paid by the employee, either directly or by way of deduction from their wages, to a registered charity mutually agreed on by the employee and the trade union.
Designation by Board
(3) Where an employee and the trade union are unable to agree on a registered charity for the purposes of subsection (2), the Board may designate any such charity as the charity to which payment should be made.
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