Administrative Litigation

We represent complainants and respondents in all areas of discrimination under the BC Human Rights Code. But our firm has a specific interest in systemic discrimination cases involving race, indigenous identity, place of origin, gender, or sexual orientation. Systemic discrimination flows from biases deeply embedded in society’s institutions and beliefs. This type of discrimination is particularly pernicious to remedy because it is hard for people to accept that their daily institutions and beliefs with which they have lived with for so long are not neutral or equitable.

Our firm is currently striving to expose daily systemic discrimination facing Indigenous peoples. Daily systemic racial aggressions are often not addressed by Indigenous peoples or people of color because of their overwhelmingly common occurrence. But their impact is deeply felt and detrimental to a person’s sense of self-worth, belonging, and social safety.

Between 2022 and 2025, we advanced human rights claims on behalf of members of Heiltsuk Nation which exposed the daily systemic discrimination that Indigenous peoples face: by banks, the police, and retailers.

• In Maxwell Johnson Sr. and AB (by Maxwell Johnson Sr.) v. Vancouver Police Board, Mr. Maxwell Johnson and his 12-year-old granddaughter alleged racial profiling discrimination by the Bank of Montreal and the Vancouver Police Department. The bank refused to allow the granddaughter to open a bank account and called the police, who immediately detained and handcuffed them. See some news articles on the case here (CBC), here (CBC), and here (CBC video).
• In Bhamji v. TD Canada Trust, a bank rejected Mr. Sharif Bhamji’s application to open an account, allegedly based on the incongruence between his Muslim name and his presenting his Indian Status Card. See articles on the case here (CBC), here (CBC), and here (Global News video).
• In Wilson v. Pagalis Sales dba Canadian Tire, an Indigenous daughter and father were shopping at Canadian Tire when the father’s bag was searched (while other persons’ bags were not). When the daughter raising a concern about the search to an employee, was told that Indigenous peoples are rude, beg and steal. See some news articles on the case here (Global News) and here (Globe and Mail).

All cases have now been settled successfully with Indigenous-specific remedies, including compensation for injury to dignity, contributions to address harms to the community, and attendances at a traditional Heiltsuk washing ceremony (to make things right). (In the Max Johnson case, however, the constables who handcuffed Mr. Johnson and his granddaughter refused to attend a washing ceremony alongside the Vancouver Police Board. That attendance remains in dispute.)

Despite these cases, consumer racial profiling (CRP) in retail and service settings remains a quiet but pervasive form of discrimination. Two leading experts, Dr. Lorne Foster and Dr. Les Jacobs, have just completed a groundbreaking report on this issue. For more, see our blog article on consumer racial profiling here.