Historically, education cases have always been low in terms of what the tribunal has awarded. I have seen some cases that were quite surprising to me how much an adult got for not being able to bring a stroller into a store or having an appointment cancelled. Here we are talking about children and the impacts on them that could last a lifetime, and children don’t seem to be compensated enough. It seems a little off to me. This is an area that I think needs attention, but in this case, Student (by Parent) v. School District, 2023 BCHRT 237, there is some hope.
It was $5,000 for serious harm from the dates April 24 and June 27, 2019.
$5,000 for 64 days.
When this case was posted on the tribunal website, the media picked it up, and it took off across Canada. Over 60 newspapers in large cities or small towns shared this case. Here is a blog with the links.
Previous cases, older cases, were Moore and Jubran. These were the only other public education cases for which complainants were awarded amounts that I am aware of in BC.
BC Human Rights Clinic has an awards chart that shows how much compensation has been given. This document was updated on April 3rd, 2025
The Moore case: Compensation for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect was for $10,000 for a time period that was years.
Jubran v. Board of Trustees, 2002 BCHRT 10: Compensation for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect was $4,000. This was for years of bullying and harassment.
These cases are older. The tribunals’ compensation amounts have been increasing, which they have acknowledged in a decision.
In tribunal decisions, the tribunal member knows that if they go too high, they are putting you at risk for a judicial review. It may be a gift from them to give your child something, but not too much.
When it comes to an amount, it is important to note:
Spielberger v. Sofo Kitchens Ltd., 2025 BCHRT 1
160] I start by noting that the Tribunal is not bound by its past decisions regarding how much compensation it orders for injury to dignity. However, I will keep Gardner in mind. I will also keep in mind that Gardner is ten years old, and that the value of the award in it must be viewed considering inflation.
[161] In deciding an appropriate amount of compensation, I am guided by the factors considered in Gichuru v. The Law Society of British Columbia (No. 9) 2011 BCHRT 185, which include the time and nature of the discrimination, the period and frequency of the discrimination, any vulnerability of the complainant, the impact of the discrimination upon the complainant, and the totality of the relationship between the complainant and respondent: at para. 260; upheld in 2014 BCCA 396.
*******
So, make your arguments known!
Getting too high an amount after a hearing might be risky, but not so at settlement meetings.
That includes settlement meetings, too! Settlement meetings are a cost-risk analysis. They are trying to determine how expensive they think you are going to be and what the chances are of you succeeding.
Be prepared. Write it out in terms of what you feel is fair based on the criteria above. It sounds horrible, but you are going to need to articulate the level of harm. You may find this uncomfortable or maybe liberating, but if you hold back, you may be compensated less because of it. As usual, the more evidence you have to support this, the better of a position you will be in.
Settlements are typically higher than what you will get at a hearing. The closer you get to a hearing than if you settle early on, the amount tends to increase as well. It just means that you need to be prepared and do the work for a hearing, just in case.
There are a lot of reasons people file human rights complaints.
- People want change – advocacy reasons
- They want their harm acknowledged
- They want certain things to happen that they can get from a settlement
- They want to ensure the schools are providing reasonable accommodations, and filing a human rights complaint forces schools to consider the damage period.
- They want the discrimination to stop, and for schools not to do this to anyone else or at least think twice before they do.
- They are pissed off and need to do something, anything, but have what their child experienced just swept under the rug
Lots of good reasons.
Compensation is one of those reasons, too. Most people I know want a specific amount because of the acknowledgment piece, or they want their kids to have counselling/tutoring or other services to undue the harm that has occurred. They feel their kids are owed repair. Rightly so.
I highly suggest you do your research and look at other decisions and what was awarded to people. It will give you a good idea of the range to expect. Also, what arguments were used to justify why it was high or why it was lower. Looking at decisions when the lawyers offer a with prejudice offer and people reject them, can be interesting and eye-opening.
Here are instructions on how to look up case law. Or you can just go to the awards chart that the BC Human Rights Clinic on their website in the resource section, and they link the cases in the chart too! Very helpful.
