Court signals best practice for employers even while upholding late dismissal
An Ontario court has upheld a human rights tribunal's decision to dismiss a discrimination claim filed more than four years late, but not without raising serious concerns about an employer's duty to keep tribunals informed when circumstances change.
In a decision released February 11, 2026, Justice Sachs of the Ontario Superior Court's Divisional Court examined whether Enercare Home and Commercial Services Inc. should have told the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario when employee grievances were withdrawn — after the company had specifically requested the tribunal defer the employee's discrimination case until those same grievances concluded.
Alkarim Bhanji was terminated in December 2016. His union filed grievances and he filed a discrimination application with the tribunal. Enercare requested a deferral until the grievances finished. The grievances were withdrawn in May 2018 due to Bhanji's failure to communicate with his union, but the tribunal issued the deferral order anyway in August 2018 — unaware the grievances no longer existed. Bhanji filed his reactivation request in July 2022, more than four years after the grievances ended.
The tribunal rejected Bhanji's late reactivation request, citing the four-year delay, lack of reasonable explanation, and prejudice to Enercare. The tribunal found Enercare was "specifically prejudiced by the delay because a...
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