You are the manager of a small vacation lodge for tourists visiting your area of the province. The lodge has a dining room and a cafeteria for guests. A family with three young children approaches a server at the dining room and ask to be seated for dinner. The server explains that your lodge has a policy that families travelling with small children are better suited for meals in the cafeteria. The parents protest and say that their children are well behaved, have done nothing wrong and were looking forward to eating in the dining room. The server asks you to intervene and you explain to the parents that customers in the dining room do not like dining with young children nearby and most families prefer to eat in the cafeteria. Though visibly disappointed, the family goes to the cafeteria. In a few minutes they return the dining room and say that the cafeteria has only limited food options and was not as comfortable as the dining room. They request once again to be seated in the dining room. You refuse again.
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No. By having a policy that refuses dining room service to all families with small children, you are discriminating on the basis of family status. Being a parent is part of a person’s family status, which is a protected characteristic under the Code. A policy that requires all customers with small children to eat in a separate cafeteria is discriminatory.
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