A Nanaimo Burger King has been ordered to pay two former female managers nearly $45,000 in damages after the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal concluded that an owner’s discriminatory views about women as managers was a factor in their dismissal.
Erica Shepard and Debra Van Eijk were dismissed from their management positions shortly after the new owners purchased the restaurant. They both filed discrimination complaints upon learning one of the owners had made demeaning comments about women as managers and women’s place in the workforce.
After hearing evidence, the tribunal accepted that the owner had made the comments about women managers. It also found that he had made other offensive comments toward women, placed women staff according to their looks and directed the use of product stickers on resumes to indicate whether an applicant was attractive or overweight.
The tribunal awarded Sheppard and Van Eijk $29,138 and $15,024, respectively, as compensation for lost wages and injured feelings.
Van Eijk and Sheppard v. Seacastle Enterprise Inc. (No. 2), 2006 BCHRT 363