Employment lawyer on Pan Pacific hotel terminations

Protests took place outside Pan Pacific Vancouver hotel in response to a wave of terminations that some are saying were discriminatory in nature. Many of the fired houseworkers have filed complaints to the B.C Human Rights Tribunal. Aside from the human rights concerns, are these employees, particularly those who are non-unionized, owed severance?

A Vancouver employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with Global News B.C on the recent terminations and employee rights.

“The tribunal is looking at factors like, is it just people of specific ethnicity that got terminated, is it just people of a certain gender that got terminated,” says Leung.

LEARN MORE
• Severance Pay in B.C
• Harassment and Discrimination

Leung adds that the tribunal will have to determine whether or not the reason for termination was discriminatory or not. “Is it that this discussion was already happening, and it was based on genuine financial reasons?” Leung states.