A federal court has once again thrown out a multimillion-dollar lawsuit claiming systemic racism in government workplaces, marking the second such case dismissed in just five months.The latest class action targeted the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, alleging widespread discrimination against civilian employees. Blacklock's Reporter says Justice Panagiotis Pamel ruled the complaints amounted to ordinary workplace grievances better suited for a labour board, writing: “The plaintiffs accept that being identified as racialized does not necessarily mean you have experienced racism or discrimination and harassment based on your race, religion or ethnic heritage.”Lead plaintiffs included an indigenous computer analyst from Alberta and a South Asian clerk from B.C. who alleged racial slurs, unequal treatment, harassment, and being passed over for promotions. .Federal lawyers argued the claims were vague, unmanageable, and too broad to proceed, and the judge agreed.The ruling follows the March dismissal of a $2.5 billion lawsuit representing 45,000 black current and former federal employees. That claim alleged decades of systemic discrimination in hiring and promotions across the federal public service. Justice Jocelyn Gagné rejected it as unworkable, noting it would require the court to comb through tens of thousands of staffing decisions. She said statistics showing under-representation of black employees were insufficient evidence, since they relied on voluntary self-identification surveys..While acknowledging Canada’s history of racism, Gagné wrote: “Evidence that racial discrimination tainted one staffing decision will not prove anything for any other.”The Public Service Alliance of Canada had endorsed the litigation, with then-president Chris Aylward telling the Senate human rights committee that anti-black discrimination “runs deep” in the public service. But with two sweeping class actions struck down in less than half a year, federal judges have made clear they expect more precise claims rather than broad allegations against the entire system.
