Codjoe reveals biggest career barrier and urges employers to aim for clearer equity policies
As employers work to develop sustainable equity, diversity and inclusion strategies, an employment lawyer at TurnpenneyMilne LLP, Esi Codjoe, says transparency and staying current on trends in human rights law in several jurisdictions is crucial for workplace goals and preventing human rights violations.
Employers should be aware of the trends coming out of the Human Rights Tribunal and the courts and follow the patterns in several provinces because they can quickly become prevalent, Codjoe says.
Federally regulated workplaces should also stay informed on federal tribunal trends in human rights law because cases build on each other. Codjoe says staying informed on the latest court or tribunal cases or subscribing to legal publications to find candid commentary about various issues can benefit employers.
“The practical reality is that legal considerations of a policy are always going to be defined by compliance with human rights legislation.”
Ultimately, employers are likely to know whether their efforts are in the right direction or running afoul of the law by understanding it through speaking with a legal expert, she says.
“You have to make sure that you’re discussing these EDI efforts with a lawyer who has expertise in human rights,” she says. “Simply doing things and hoping that it’ll work itself out is ill-advised.”
Codjoe started her career practicing in-house for a union representing workers and engaged in human rights issues relating to disability, gender, and race issues, and she says her involvement has continued over the course of her career.
“I started my career working in-house for a union where I engaged in grievance arbitration, labour board and collective bargaining work. “
Codjoe is a decision-maker at the landlord and tenant tribunal board and decides human rights and employment matters on the Human Rights Tribunal. She says switching to the management side of giving advice and deciding tribunal cases made her think deeply about human rights principles and how they are applied.
Codjoe has engaged in volunteer work with several organizations, and she says it was a natural progression to now doing specific EDI work in private practice. She is a current member of the OBA’s Labour and Employment Law Section executive and served as the Toronto regional director on the OBA board of directors and member of the Governance Committee. In addition, Codjoe is past chair of the OBA Equality Committee.
She has served as the secretary and director of professional development for the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and was an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association Labour and Employment Law Section from 2009 to 2013.
She was awarded a Lexpert Zenith award as a change agent in law in 2019 and will be one of the speakers at the Canadian Lawyer’s Employment Law Masterclass on Apr. 28, presenting “key legal considerations to support your DEI framework.”
Employers must adopt a holistic approach to developing an EDI framework which Codjoe says entails assessing human rights issues as they align with the tribunal and court decisions.
She says organizations should aim for transparency, inquire about employees’ comfort, and adjust workplace practices according to received feedback.
“You should be engaging with them on a more regular basis than once in a blue moon because if you just do something thinking it’s a wide approach without having seen all the implications, that could create bigger problems for you.”
Transparency in hiring and promoting practices benefits employers because prospective and current employees become aware of the work culture and the contributions needed to grow, Codjoe says.
She says employers should rigorously assess working environment styles, including meetings, office setups and information sharing, understanding that employees have different personalities and work styles.
“Ultimately, an employer needs to ensure that they are creating a workplace that works for different personalities and work styles, so the entire workplace isn’t just catering to a particular kind of personality.”
Codjoe started law school 22 years ago when there was an underwhelming number of Black lawyers in Ontario, and she says, frankly, that was her most significant barrier. “You had to work harder to imagine yourself in certain places and spaces.”
There were no methods of knowing Black lawyers in similar career paths because the internet was at a different stage and social media was non-existent or in its infancy. For example, she says there were no social media sites where working professionals could engage, such as LinkedIn.
There are still not enough Black lawyers in the legal profession, but there has been an increase, and Codjoe says the ability to see representation is much higher for young Black lawyers compared to her experience going into law 22 years ago.
