Nova Scotia municipality facing human rights complaint over mandatory retirement

Cape Breton Regional Municipality's former director of planning to get full hearing in January

SYDNEY, N.S. (CP) — A Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission board of inquiry will hear a complaint against the Cape Breton Regional Municipality regarding its mandatory retirement policy at age 65.

Three other complaints filed against the municipality have been dismissed by the board following two days of hearings in December in Sydney.

The board ruled the three complaints amounted to retrying an issue decided in a previous case, and there was no indication of new evidence or a change in the law.

The fourth complaint filed by Doug Foster, the municipality's former director of planning, will proceed to a full hearing in January.

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Act forbids discrimination by employers on the basis of age, although it allows for some exceptions.

The complainants whose complaints were dismissed have the option of appealing to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

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