In Bonnefoy v. British Columbia (Human Rights Tribunal), 2025 BCSC 1192, the court upheld a decision by the BC Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) to dismiss an individual’s complaint against her former employer, and to sanction the individual for not attending her full Tribunal hearing. The individual had previously filed a discrimination complaint against her former employer under the BC Human Rights Code. The individual attended the first day of her Tribunal hearing, but not the second. Subsequently, the Tribunal issued a decision in which it dismissed the individual’s complaint and ordered the individual to pay costs as a sanction for improper conduct during the Tribunal proceedings.
On review, the court held that none of the grounds raised by the individual to challenge the dismissal of her discrimination complaint were well-founded. The court found that the individual had only presented a portion of her evidence on the day she chose to attend, and that her evidence did not show how her protected characteristics were a factor in the adverse employment impacts she had experienced. Further, the court disagreed that the Tribunal’s process was procedurally unfair and contained bias, as the Tribunal made reasonable attempts to accommodate the individual through the process. The court also declined to interfere with the Tribunal’s decision to award costs, noting that the Tribunal did not do so arbitrarily, in bad faith, for an improper purpose, or based on irrelevant factors.