Lesbian wins $23,000 from Christian group

ICC Note: In essence, this court is forcing a Christian ministry to abandon its Christian identity – though this is not a severe case of persecution, it certainly lays the groundwork.

By Joseph Brean
4/26/08 Canada (National Post) – A Christian evangelical charity group has been ordered to pay a long-time employee $23,000 plus lost wages for terminating her employment on the grounds of her homosexuality.

Connie Heintz, 39, a Christian of Mennonite heritage, complained to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario after being fired on Sept. 23, 2000, when directors of Christian Horizons discovered she had been discussing her sexual orientation with co-workers, and had come to believe she was gay.

Christian Horizons, a service organization based in Kitchener operates homes for the disabled across the province.

It serves about 1,400 people, and employs 2,500, mostly with funding from the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Christian Horizons has long required staff to sign a Lifestyle and Morality Statement, which forbids them from having extra-marital affairs, pre-marital sex, homosexual relationships, or using or “endorsing” alcohol or tobacco.

“The effect of the policy was to make [Ms. Heintz] a pariah within the organization,” wrote Michael Gottheil, chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

The Human Rights Tribunal ruling orders that Christian Horizons stop requiring employees to sign this statement; that they develop an anti-discrimination and harassment policy; and start a human rights-training program within six months.

The ruling also awards Ms. Heintz damages of $8,000 for the application of a discriminatory policy, $10,000 for a poisoned work environment.

As well, she received $5,000 for “wilful and reckless infliction of mental anguish arising from the poisoned work environment,” and special damages amounting to her wages and benefits between Sept. 23, 2000, and July 12, 2002, plus interest, and less any money earned elsewhere.

“The public funding is really not the issue here,” said Afroze Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which works on behalf of both complainants and the public interest at the Tribunal…[Go To Full Story]