A BC tribunal found the employer's assumptions about childcare crossed a legal line
A British Columbia employer has been ordered to pay more than $45,000 after a tribunal found it discriminated against a worker returning from maternity leave, despite acting without discriminatory intent. In a decision dated March 12, 2026, Tribunal Member Beverly Froese found that North Horizon Immigration Consulting Inc. violated the Human Rights Code based on the employee's sex and family status, after a scheduling dispute derailed what had been a productive employment relationship.
Estherly Castro Mosquera had worked part-time at North Horizon since 2017 on a flexible Monday-to-Thursday schedule. Her employer, owner and CEO Rita Benkhalti, had described her in writing as "the most valuable member of my team." The two had discussed Castro Mosquera obtaining her immigration consultant licence and moving into a senior role at the company.
The conflict began at a January 18, 2020, meeting, about three weeks before Castro Mosquera's scheduled return from maternity leave. When she said she couldn’t work Fridays due to childcare, Benkhalti assumed she had deliberately withheld this intention. The Tribunal found no verbal agreement to return full-time had ever been made.
At that meeting, Benkhalti told Castro Mosquera she was "demanding too much" and did not "deserve" special privileges "just because she is a mother." Froese found the account credible, noting Castro Mosquera's own words: "a...
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