The workers of the world aren't going to like this one bit. Public Eye has learned the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is considering a sex discrimination complaint against provincial New Democrat It Boy Gregor Robertson, his company Happy Planet Foods Inc. and its president Johann Burger. According to a document posted on the tribunal's Website today, Hilda Janzen, who worked as a controller for Happy Planet, claims when she lost her job, Mr. Burger said she was a "strong woman and that he could not harness me and because of this had to let me go." Messrs. Burger and Robertson have denied this and other allegations, saying Ms. Janzen was terminated because of a financial downturn.

Ms. Janzen also claims Mr. Burger told her he "had an expectation that management should be working 50 or more hours per week and that (she) was not doing so because she was recently married." And she alleges the company president previously "diminished her person and being" by yelling at her for going to the doctors without telling him and ensuring "everyone in the office was aware of his displeasure."

Ms. Janzen has included Mr. Robertson in the complaint because he "was present at meetings in which Mr. Burger is alleged to have discriminated against Ms. Janzen. Further, Ms. Janzen says she reported Mr. Burger's alleged discrimination to Mr. Robertson, and although he wrote the Happy Planet staff hand book which states that discrimination was grounds for dismissal, she instead was dismissed five days later."

The respondents moved to dismiss Ms. Janzen's claim on the grounds "that everything Ms. Janzen alleges is untrue." They also claim the former controller brought a human rights complaint forward because her wrongful dismissal case against Happy Planet Foods isn't going well. But the Human Rights Tribunal has decided to proceed with the case anyway.