Twelve Jewish educators have filed human rights complaints against four Ontario school boards and two teachers’ unions, alleging workplace antisemitism and retaliation for reporting the discrimination.

The educators filed separate applications with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on Oct. 1 and plan to request a joint hearing. The applications name the Toronto District School Board, York Region District School Board, Simcoe County District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, as well as the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

Each applicant is seeking CA$150,000 in general damages, along with compensation for psychological counseling. They are also asking the tribunal to order the boards and unions to develop enforceable policies addressing antisemitism with input from the Jewish community and to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. Ontario’s government adopted and recognized the IHRA definition in 2020.

The complaints describe incidents including swastikas drawn in schools and allege that educators who reported antisemitism were ignored, disciplined or otherwise penalized.

Michelle Outmezguine, an educator and ETFO member, said she was “consistently targeted with harassment by colleagues and fellow union members.”

In one case, a teacher alleges that the Toronto District School Board failed to investigate a swastika drawn on a desk. In another, a Simcoe County teacher alleges that a student who drew a swastika on a classroom chart was not disciplined.

“For too long, Jewish teachers in Ontario have gone to work facing antisemitism, and when they asked their school boards and unions for help, they were ignored and in some cases faced reprisal,” Kathryn Marshall, attorney for the educators, stated.