February 1, 1994 - Jewish Teachers

Supreme Court hears case regarding paid time off for Jewish teachers. In 1985, three Jewish teachers by the names of Joseph Kadoch, Louise Elbraz and Jacob Lahmi took an approved, unpaid day's leave of absence to celebrate Yom Kippur. The only trouble was, the three employees of the Quebec School Board in Chambly would have preferred a paid day off. Their union agreed they were entitled to this, and filed a grievance aimed at securing pay for teachers on their holy days off work. The labour arbitration found that the school board had discriminated against the teachers and should have granted them paid leave. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the judges heard it on February 1, 1994. Five months later, they (like the arbitrators) ruled against the school board and in favour of the teachers and their union. The Supreme Court justices noted that the school board was able to accommodate these teachers without undue hardship, and already had an established history of granting all teachers paid days off if they had a “good or valid” reason. The decision is regarded as a significant victory for Canadians outside of the traditional Protestant and Catholic religions.

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