Alberta Court Upholds Human Rights Decision Against Independent School

On August 10, 2016 the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta released its judgment upholding an Alberta Human Rights Commission ("AHRC") decision related to students praying on an independent school's campus. The Court upheld $26,000 in damages awarded to two high school students (the "Students") as a result of their private school, Webber Academy Foundation ("Webber Academy"), prohibiting them from conducting their prayers on campus. This case reinforces a school's obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for students' religious beliefs and practices.

AHRC Decision1

On February 13, 2012, two complaints were filed to the AHRC against Webber Academy, alleging discrimination against the Students contrary to ss. 4(a) and 4(b) of the Alberta Human Rights Act (the "Act"). The sections provide:

4. No person shall

1. deny to any person or class of persons any goods, services, accommodation or facilities that are customarily available to the public, or

2. discriminate against any person or class of persons with respect to any goods, services, accommodation or facilities that are customarily available to the public2

The complainants alleged that Webber Academy discriminated against the Students by not allowing them to perform short prayers on campus in accordance with their religious beliefs. They argued that they hold sincere religious beliefs and that it would not have imposed undue hardship on Webber Academy to accommodate them. Webber Academy refused to re-enroll the Students for another school year for failure to follow its policies and procedures as a result of their praying on campus. Further, the Students argued that by refusing to re-enroll them, Webber Academy acted contrary to s. 4 of the Act.

Webber Academy argued that "the provision of prayer space" is beyond the scope of s. 4 of the Act and, in any event, there was no differential treatment of the Students as compared to other students. It argued that being non-denominational is an integral part of Webber Academy's identity, and prayers on campus challenged this identity. Webber Academy claimed it offered accommodation by allowing the Students to miss class to leave campus to pray.

The AHRC concluded that the services and facilities Webber Academy customarily offered to the public (the student body in this case) included educational programs and other supportive services and facilities, including the use of the campus. The Students highlighted that the student body is reliant on...