Feb 222012
 

By Donna

The complaint submissions sent by Donna Hunter and three other Morinville parents have been accepted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission under Section 4 of the Alberta Human Rights Act. It was welcome news after the complaint submission sent by Donna Hunter and another Morinville parent under Section 11.1 of the AHRA was not accepted in January. The two parents have since requested a review of the AHRC director’s decision to decline the Section 11.1 complaints. The parents have not heard back yet on this request.

Read more here:
Standing up for the rights of Albertans: Morinville parents deserve respect for efforts to get education access by Paula Simons http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Standing+rights+Albertans/6174391/story.html

Human Rights Commission hears Morinville schools complaint by Matthew Bisson
http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?ID=1657043

Human Rights Commission to investigate Morinville parents complaint by CTV Edmonton
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120218/EDM_morinville_120218/20120218/?hub=EdmontonHome

Section 4 of the AHRA states:

Discrimination re goods, services, accommodation, facilities

4 No person shall

(a) deny to any person or class of persons any goods,

services, accommodation or facilities that are customarily

available to the public, or

(b) discriminate against any person or class of persons with

respect to any goods, services, accommodation or

facilities that are customarily available to the public,

because of the race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, physical

disability, mental disability, ancestry, place of origin, marital

status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation of that

person or class of persons or of any other person or class of

persons.

The full Act can be found here: http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/A25P5.pdf

The complaint process

The Commission keeps all parties to a complaint informed during the complaint process and welcomes questions at any time. The complainant is the person who makes the complaint. The respondent is the person, organization, or association being complained about. Together they are called the “parties” to the complaint. A brief outline of the human rights complaint process is provided below. For more detailed information, please contact the Commission.

At any time during the complaint process, you may close your complaint by informing the Commission in writing.

Notifying the respondent

After the Commission accepts your complaint, we send a copy of the complaint (excluding your contact information) to the respondent. The respondent has 21 days from the date when they receive the copy of the complaint to respond to the Commission.

Sharing the response with the complainant

The Commission sends a copy of the response to the complainant.

Conciliation

Conciliation is a voluntary way of resolving differences. The Commission assigns a conciliator to try to help the parties resolve their differences. In most complaints, this is the first step after the complainant receives a copy of the response. If the parties resolve their differences, the complaint is closed. If the parties cannot resolve their differences, or if one or both of the parties decline conciliation, the complaint goes to the investigation step of the complaint process.

Investigation

At this step, the Commission assigns an investigator and informs the parties. The purpose of the investigation is to gather information related to the complaint, consult with the parties on the results of the investigation, and assess whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the complaint process.

Settlement

If the investigation shows that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the complaint process, the Commission will ask the parties to reach a settlement.

Dismissal

If the investigation does not show that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the complaint process, then the complaint is dismissed.

Discontinuance

The director of the Commission may discontinue a complaint if the director believes that the complainant has refused to accept a settlement offer that is fair and reasonable.

Appeals to the chief commissioner

If a complainant does not agree with a dismissal or discontinuance, the complainant can make a written appeal to the chief commissioner within 30 days of receiving the Notice of Dismissal or Notice of Discontinuance. For more information about the appeal process, see the Commission’s information sheet Complaint Process.

Referral to a human rights panel

In the event that there is a reasonable basis for the complaint but the parties are unable to settle, the director will refer the complaint to the chief commissioner, who appoints a human rights panel to hear the case. For more information about the human rights panel process, visit the Human Rights Complaints section of the Commission’s Web site or contact the Commission.

Source: http://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/documents/complaintform-guide.pdf

 Posted by at 4:15 AM