Vriend v. Alberta
Canada Supreme Court
1 S.C.R. 493 (1998)
- Written by Nathan Herkamp, JD
Facts
Delwin Vriend (plaintiff) taught at Kings College in Alberta (defendant) but was fired from his position after the Kings College administration learned that he was homosexual. Vriend then filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Commission was created by the Individual Rights Protection Act (IRPA), a statute passed by the legislature of Alberta. IRPA prohibited discrimination in Alberta in order to ensure equal benefits and equal protection under the law. Vriend’s complaint was dismissed by the Human Rights Commission because IRPA did not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Vriend appealed, arguing that IRPA violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Article 2, which protected the freedom of thought, belief, and expression, and article 15, which guaranteed equal treatment before the law, were specifically invoked to argue against IRPA. The trial judge in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta ruled that sexual orientation should be read into IRPA. The Alberta Court of Appeals overruled the Court of Queen’s Bench. The case was appealed to the Canada Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cory, J.)
Dissent (Major, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
