Areas of Expertise

• Human rights
• Pay and employment equity
• Administrative and
  constitutional law
• Investigation and mediation
• Customized training

BAR MEMBERSHIP

• Ontario 1988-2007
• British Columbia, 1994
• Yukon, 2010

EDUCATION

• LL.M., Harvard University, 1989
• LL.B., University of Toronto, 1986
• B.A., University of Toronto, 1983

Nitya Iyer

Nitya Iyer joined Lovett Westmacott in 2011, after practicing with Heenan Blaikie for ten years. Previously she was an associate professor at the University of British Columbia after starting her academic career on the Law Faculty of the University of Toronto. In 1986, she clerked for the Honourable Gerald E. Le Dain of the Supreme Court of Canada.

In the fall of 2001, Nitya was appointed by the B.C. provincial government to study the merits of pay equity legislation for the private sector and make recommendations to the Legislature. Her report was published in March 2002. Nitya was a full-time member of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal from 1997 to 2000. She has been the Equal Pay Commissioner of the Northwest Territories since 2004.

Nitya practices in the fields of administrative and constitutional law, with a special focus on human rights and pay equity. She advises governments, employers and complainants on these issues, providing policy advice and representation in complaints. She has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Nitya specializes in the negotiation of settlements of complex discrimination cases. Nitya also acts as a neutral, providing investigation and mediation services in these areas.

Nitya has written extensively on human rights and equality. She was awarded the Marion Porter Prize for her article entitled Disappearing Women: Racial Minority Women in Human Rights Cases. She sits on the Board of Directors of St. James Community Services Society, the Canadian Human Rights Reporter, and of the West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund.

Nitya is passionate about expressing legal arguments clearly and concisely. For the past ten years, she has delivered training to lawyers, boards and agencies on legal reasoning, and writing.

Formerly a co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Nitya has also been president of the Elizabeth Bagshaw Women's Clinic, as well as a member of the Legal Committee of the Canadian Disability Rights Council.

SELECTED COUNSEL WORK

• Information & Privacy Commissioner v. Alberta Teachers Association, SCC 2011 decision pending [jurisdictional issue; effect of Commissioner's non-compliance with statutory time limits] Acted for institutional intervenor.
• Workers' Compensation Board (BC) v. Figliola, SCC 2011 decision pending [jurisdiction of BC Human Rights Tribunal to review whether Board's decision that its chronic pain policy is not discriminatory]. Acted for public interest group intervenor.
• Rick v. Brandsema, 2009 SCC 10 [failure of a spouse to fully disclose all financial information can result in separation agreement being set aside] Acted for public interest group intervenor.
• Health Services and Support - Facilities Subsector Bargaining Association v. BC, 2007 SCC 27 [Charter challenge to legislation setting aside collective agreement; duty to bargain in good faith recognized as part of s. 2(d); no violation of s. 15] Acted for Government of BC.
• BC Government and Service Employees' Union v. BC (Public Service Employer Relations Commission), 2005 BCCA 129 [policy setting a 6-month time limit on search for alternative positions for employees who cannot return to their own jobs due to disability does not discriminate based on disability] Acted for Government of BC.
• R. v. Watson, 2008 BCCA 340 [legislation restricting protest outside abortion services facilities upheld under Charter: violation of freedom of expression is justified]. Acted for public interest group intervenor.
• Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission) v. Kellogg Brown & Root, 2007 ABCA 426 [pre-employment drug-testing policy does not discriminate against non-addicted drug users on the basis of perceived disability] Acted for public interest group intervenor.
• Health Employer's Association of BC v. BC Nurses' Union, 2006 BCCA 57 [third reinstatement of drug-addicted nurse is not discriminatory as constitutes undue hardship] Acted for employer.

SELECTED REPORTS + PUBLICATIONS

• "Barriers to Access to Justice", (2009) Chapter 22 Canadian Legal Practice, Lexis Nexis Canada (with R. Gauthier)
• "Disadvantaged Unions: The Merging of Sections 2(d) and 15(1) of the Charter", (2005) 12(1) Cdn. Labour and Employment J. 1
• Working Through the Wage Gap, Report of the BC Task Force on Pay Equity, February 2001
• "Disappearing Women: Racial Minority Women in Human Rights Cases" (1993), 6 Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 25-51; (awarded Marion Porter Prize, Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women)

SELECTED DECISIONS

• Order P11-02, Economical Mutual Insurance Company, 2011 BCIPC No. 16
• Canadian Jewish Congress v. North Shore Free Press [1997] BCHRTD No. 23