CWSL Professor Cited in Major Report on Canada’s Employment Equity Act

Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp has made a career out of in-depth research into labor and employment law, both in the United States and abroad. This week, her scholarly work was prominently quoted in a major report by the Canadian Task Force on Canada's Employment Equity Act (EEA). 

The EEA was passed in 1986 to ensure equal employment opportunity in federally regulated Canadian workplaces. In 2021, the Canadian government created a task force to undertake a comprehensive review of the impact of the law. The task force was also asked to make recommendations for change where warranted. Adelle Blackett, who is Professor of Law and Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law at McGill University, was appointed chair of the task force. This week, the Canadian Minister of Labour Seamus O'Regan Jr. and Professor Blackett announced the report's release. 
 
Professor Bisom-Rapp’s latest law review article, "The Role of Law and Myth in Creating a Workplace that 'Looks Like America'," 43 Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 251 (2022), which was published one year ago this month, was first cited in the task force report’s introduction. In her article, Professor Bisom-Rapp argues against what she characterizes as the largely cosmetic approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the United States. More specifically, she critiques the assumption that certain efforts – for example, DEI training or DEI complaint procedures – will improve workplace climates for underrepresented groups. In fact, poorly designed tools can make things worse. In place of a form over substance approach to DEI, Professor Bisom-Rapp challenges legislators, judges, and employers to embrace an evidence-based approach that rewards employers who demonstrate measurable improvements in DEI. Later in the task force report, Professor Bisom-Rapp was quoted at the start of a section recommending incentivizing the removal of barriers to equity: 
 
Altering the legal incentives that reward a cosmetic approach, however, is necessary but insufficient. Ultimately, an evidence-based approach to compliance requires innovative employers to collaborate with researchers and regulators.
 
Professor Bisom-Rapp commented that she “was honored and humbled” to have her recommendation cited. “Needless to say, when I published the article, I never assumed it might have an impact beyond our borders,” she said. “I am really pleased that my article came to the attention of Professor Blackett and that she and the task force saw value in its thesis.”

You can read the task force’s full report here.