Recent case in Ontario shows employee’s refusal to make harassment complaint doesn’t override health and safety obligations
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling in Metrolinx v. Amalgamated Transit Union, local 1587, 2025 ONCA 415, reaffirms employers’ statutory duty to investigate complaints of workplace discrimination and harassment irrespective of whether the employee who is a recipient of the impugned conduct wants the matter investigated. It also reminds employers that an investigation into an employee’s off-duty conduct may flow from the same obligation should the impugned conduct “manifest in the workplace.”
Metrolinx concerns the for-cause termination of five Metrolinx employees in the Toronto area following an investigation into a WhatsApp group chat that the employees were participants in on their personal cellphones during off-duty hours. The messages contained sexist and problematic comments about a female colleague, Ms. A. Ms. A provided her superior with screenshots of the WhatsApp conversation but did not file a formal complaint against the employees and did not want the matter investigated.
Notwithstanding Ms. A’s position, Metrolinx launched an investigation into the employees’ group chat messages in compliance with its obligations under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, naming itself as a complainant in Ms. A’s stead. The investigator concluded that the employees engaged in sexual harassment. Metrolinx, in turn, terminated its employment...
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