Bhinder v. CN, [1985] 2 S.C.R. 561

Supreme Court of Canada Decision regarding the requirement for CN employees to wear hard hats. Mr. Bhinder refused to wear a hard hat over his turban. The Court ruled that this was a bona fide occupational requirement. There was a strong dissent by Chief Justice Dickson and the future Chief Justice Lamer.

The Supreme Court recognized that the majority decision was incorrect and overturned its approach in Central Alberta Dairy Pool v. Alberta (Human Rights Commission), [1990] 2 S.C.R. 489.

The current approach to accommodation at the workplace was established in the Meiorin case British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. British Columbia Government Service Employees' Union [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 SCC 48 where the distinction between tests for direct and indirect discrimination was eliminated.