Mississauga student launches human rights complaint against Toronto college

A former student of Humber College has filed a human rights complaint after he claims the school failed to meet accommodations necessary for him to succeed at the post-secondary school, an allegation the college denies.

Jake, who is from Mississauga, also alleges the college retaliated against him when he complained, locking him out of key online platforms for the school, making it impossible for him to complete his work.

CityNews is not using Jake’s last name to protect his identity.

Jake, who is now 21, was diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disorder, impacting math and aspects of written expression. In high school, Jake had an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and was reevaluated in 2021 prior to attending Humber.

“Those accommodations [were] very successful. And I was successful. I had it provided to me all the way up to college,” he said.

It was recommended he ask for additional time and a separate room for tests, note-taking services, alternative text formats and a use of a calculator in math-based courses, among other accommodations.

Jake tells CityNews he met with the appropriate people at the college the week before school started to provided details on his disability and the accommodations he would need.

Without them, he said he would fail.

“I had four courses with Humber College, with four professors, and then one of my classes, I was not doing so well, and I was not provided accommodation, so my marks were speaking to [that].”

When he felt his accommodations were not being met, Jake reached out to an advocate and scheduled a meeting in late October with the senior management team to discuss his concerns. He said following this meeting, he no longer had access to online course management program.

“I felt like I was penalized by the college because I had that meeting asking for support with an advocate when I was trying to stand up for my rights under the Human Rights Code with my disability that I was diagnosed with,” said Jake.

Jake filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on Nov. 21, 2021 alleging he was not provided with an Accommodations Letter until Oct. 28, 2021, the accommodations were not followed and finally, the college harassed and reprised against him for raising concerns about his accommodations by locking him out of the online course management platform.

“I think it’s just a slap in the face to me. I’m trying to be successful and fight for myself. And they let a problem go from minor to severe over of a month of time. And I think it’s just garbage,” said Jake.

He is asking for $200,000 in compensation as well.

He withdrew from the school in January of 2022 and has since re-enrolled at another school where the accommodations have been provided in full.

Humber College denies allegations

CityNews obtained a copy of the school allegedly responding to the human right’s complaint. The college requested a dismissal of the application, saying it took steps to accommodate and support the applicant that “extended beyond their legal obligations to do so.”

“The Applicant’s allegations that he was discriminated against on the basis of disability are unsubstantiated and strictly denied by the College,” read the response.

Their tech department also said there was nothing wrong with Jake’s computer when they tested it and when he complained further, the college said he refused to come to campus to have his equipment tested.

The school said it has evidence that the college “took extensive measures to resolve the Applicant’s reported tech issues and create work- around solutions, limited only by the Applicant’s refusal to come to campus to receive in-person tech support.”

Eventually, an investigation found no issues with his account and he had access.

“The allegation that the College intentionally orchestrated tech issues in order to punish and harass the Applicant for raising concerns about his accommodations is baseless,” read their response.

They also claim that there aren’t any material facts that support Jake’s claim that “his accommodations were not adequately implemented, and that the College reprised against him.”

Alison Brindle, the Executive Director of the Center for Diverse Learners and Diverse Learners Ontario, was working as the advocate for Jake and said Humber College’s response, “seems like a typical legal response.”

In a statement to CityNews, Humber College said they could not comment on the complaint as it is before the tribunal.

“Humber College takes seriously its commitment to supporting all students to succeed in their learning environments, and above all else to treat everyone with respect,” read their statement. “Our Accessible Learning Services team works collaboratively with learners and faculty to ensure the accessibility of our academic environment. Learners are required to fulfill their responsibilities by participating in the process and demonstrate that they have achieved the required learning outcomes.”

Brindle said Jake is highly organized and has documented everything in relation to the complaint.

“He knows the exact date of every meeting, what was said, has emails and so we can really clearly see through the trail that he’s gone through, what a struggle that is, for many other neurodiverse individuals, they maybe don’t have those skills and don’t realize what they’re entitled to,” said Brindle.

Brindle said Jake reached out to her five weeks into the term to tell her the accommodations were not being met and accompanied him to late October meeting with Humber College.

“I sat in meetings with him and with senior staff, who told us that they would do things and things that don’t seem particularly difficult. And yet the process just dragged on and on and on … We can’t afford to have long delays. Things need to be dealt with quickly with consideration and respect and compassion,” said Brindle.

Brindle said one of the fundamental barriers that neurodiverse individuals face at institutions is that their disability is invisible.

“People don’t necessarily take them seriously. So, what we’re asking for is not a lot, but there’s a lot of flexibility for professors to provide as much or as little as they seem to like, and I don’t think there’s enough realization about how much small changes can impact an individual and lead them from either success or complete failure.”

Despite having moved on from Humber College, Jake said he wants to make sure there is change for the next person who needs accommodations.

“It appears that there are some systemic problems here at this place because … this has been such a long period of time and I’ve gone I have fought and fought quite a lot,” said Jake. “I want to address this and problems here. I don’t want this to happen to someone else again,” said Jake.