By Kiran Rana
As May approaches and brings restaurant patio season, it will also mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark legal victory of one former Winnipeg waitress against sexual harassment.
When 21 –year-old Dianna Evangeline took a job waitressing at a local Winnipeg restaurant, like many young Canadians she was looking to make money to pay for her tuition.
But it wasn’t long before she was subjected to sexual harassment by a fellow employee.
After months of constant harassment and verbal abuse with no support from her employer when he was notified, Evangeline quit her job. She filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 1983 against Platy Enterprises Ltd, the owners of Pharos Restaurant.
What followed was a six –year emotional rollercoaster of court dates, defeats and appeals that ultimately brought Evangeline’s case a landmark win before the Supreme Court of Canada. Her case, Janzen v. Platy Enterprises Ltd. established that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination and is illegal in Canada. It also set a precedent, which made employers responsible for the inappropriate actions of their employers.
Evangeline has come a long way from her 21-year old self, which she describes as a “victim.” She changed her name from Dianna Janzen, left the country, and spent decades silent on the matter, focusing on her own emotional healing.
“A lot of time has gone, a lot of bridges have been mended since that time. Some not. It took its toll on a lot of levels,” she says.
Today Evangeline works as a financial analyst in the health care field. She has two children of her own.
Executive Director of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission Azim Jiwa says that the landmark case changed the way we view sexual harassment because it is now legally covered and recognized by human rights codes. He says recognizing sexual harassment as a part of sex discrimination provides women in the workplace with legal protection.
According to Jiwa and the Commission, there were 73 sex discrimination complaints filed in 1990, the year following the case. In contrast, only 34 cases of sex discrimination were filed in 2012.
“That may be because things have improved in the workplace, but we have to consider that it could also be because people aren’t reporting the issues,” he says.
While Evangeline recognizes that times have changed and people are more sensitive towards sexual harassment, she says she is concerned about the vulnerability young people face in their first jobs.
Aaron Hartman is a first- year student at St. Lawrence College who can relate to this vulnerability. She’s worked numerous serving jobs in both Ottawa and Kingston in order to pay for rent, tuition and pay off loans. She says that harassment in the serving industry is more common than statistics show. Hartman says that some managers will exploit their power and employees are unsure of how to react.
“A lot of girls don’t feel strong enough to say something because they don’t want to lose their jobs and they’re afraid no one will believe them,” she says.
Hartman says that she left her last job because of uninvited sexual advances from her manager.
“I didn’t need the money desperately at the time so it was an easy decision to make,” she says. “But a lot of servers aren’t as lucky.”
Jiwa acknowledges this as well. “ It’s certainly an issue with regards to human rights complaints,” he says. “For women in the workplace in particular they are concerned about the impact a complaint will have on their employment.”
Jiwa says that the most important factor in preventing workplace discrimination is education.
“People who are suffering from discrimination should be educated on what their rights are and made aware that they can come forward and will have their issues dealt with in a positive way,” he says.
Jiwa also says that part of educating the public should involve informing potential violators of human rights why their behaviour is unacceptable.
For Evangeline, whose stance against workplace discrimination changed Canadian law, the hope is that more women will speak out against sex discrimination in the generations to come.
*Documentation used
1) Supreme Court of Canada Case of Janzen v. Platy Enterprises. I used the court case (hyperlinked above) which I found online after googling the case name. The case was helpful because it gave the specific chronological order of the case leading up to the Supreme Court decision. It was also helpful for a general background understanding of what happened and the reasonings behind why the court ruled in her favour.
2) Manitoba Human Rights Commission Website. I found the website online after a simple google search. I used the website for a better understanding of what the Human Rights Commission does. I also used it to understand the process of filing a complaint. Since the story was one from Manitoba I used their Human RIghts Commission for a better understanding of what Dianna Evangeline’s process was. I also used the website to contact the Executive Director who was extremely helpful in our interview. Following this I compared the Human Rights Commission for Manitoba to provinces like Ontario to ensure they followed similar protocol.