A: An order against a person or organization that discriminated against you is not supposed to punish that person; instead, it is supposed to put you in the place you would have been in if the discrimination had not happened.
Settlements or orders should be aimed at:
- stopping the current discrimination;
- preventing the discrimination in the future; and
- providing you with compensation (financial and non-financial) for what you lost because of the discrimination.
Examples of possible remedies include requiring the respondent to:
- provide an apology;
- provide a job reference;
- provide a commitment not to continue the discriminating behaviour;
- re-instate you to your former position;
- give you financial compensation (money) for actual financial losses (like lost wages) or losses such as loss of dignity and self-respect;
- attend an education session; or
- put anti-discrimination policies in place.
Note that you are responsible to mitigate your damages. This means you have a responsibility to make sure your losses don’t add up where you can reduce them. For example, if you are fired, you have responsibility to find a new job. If you don’t make any efforts to find one, you might not get compensation for the whole time you were off work.
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