Pre-hiring medical questionnaires: questions ruled discriminatory by the Human Rights Tribunal

A pre-employment medical questionnaire that provides a detailed picture of a candidate's health and asks broad questions that are not directly and rationally related to skills and qualifications required for the job is discriminatory. In addition, this questionnaire violates the right to safeguard one's dignity and the right to privacy, the Human Rights Tribunal found in a recent ruling. The Tribunal upheld the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse’s position, that by requiring a candidate seeking the position of psychologist to disclose his age and health status at the pre-employment stage, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) des Laurentides jeopardized his right to a discriminatory-free selection process.

Montréal, February 6, 2017– A pre-employment medical questionnaire that provides a detailed picture of a candidate's health and asks broad questions that are not directly and rationally related to skills and qualifications required for the job is discriminatory. In addition, this questionnaire violates the right to safeguard one's dignity and the right to privacy, the Human Rights Tribunal found in a recent ruling. The Tribunal upheld the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse’s position, that by requiring a candidate seeking the position of psychologist to disclose his age and health status at the pre-employment stage, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) des Laurentides jeopardized his right to a discriminatory-free selection process.

News release (in French only)