Today marks International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion, an observation on the United Nations (UN) human rights calendar. The day is designed to draw attention to those who suffered or were persecuted for trying to exercise their freedom of religion or belief.

The categories included in the Equal Opportunity Act (EOA) are broad and provide coverage for a wide range of services and accommodations. In previous columns, we discussed three categories, which are employment, education and provision of accommodation.

Section 18 of the Act refers to this category as the Provision of Accommodation and the status grounds protected by the Act are: race, ethnicity, sex, disability, marital status, origin including geographical origin and religion.

It is unlawful for any educational establishment, board, or other institution to discriminate against both applicants and/or students who are already enrolled in a school or programme, based on any of seven protected status grounds under the act.

The Equal Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination based on a person’s marital status (along with five other status grounds). According to the act, marital status means the status or condition of being: (a) single; (b) married; (c) married but living separately and apart from one’s spouse; (d) divorced; or (e) widowed.

Sex and gender are sometimes used interchangeably but they are not the same, a distinction important to note, as the Equal Opportunity Act protects against discrimination on the ground of sex (and six other status grounds) but not on the ground of gender.

The Equal Opportunity Act, prohibits discrimination based on religion. Religious discrimination refers to treating individuals (employees, customers, tenants, students) differently because of their religious beliefs and practices, and or their request for accommodations associated with those beliefs and practices.

Data at the commission shows that in many instances, members of the public are unable to differentiate between race and ethnicity. In most cases, complaints are lodged using the two characteristics otherwise known as status grounds, either incorrectly or interchangeably.

In our past publications we addressed reasonable accommodation and the process of requesting accommodation in the workplace. The question you may be thinking is, “What happens next?”