She won a landmark discrimination case in Canada. An exhibit and play honour her legacy

She is described as an inspirational hero who changed Canadian labour law forever.

But the story of Montrealer Gloria Baylis isn’t a well known one. 

A new exhibit at the SANAAQ centre is seeking to lift the veil on Baylis’s accomplishments and her dogged fight in the 1960s for her rights and the rights of Canadians.

“When I was in law school and when people would mention the name Gloria Baylis, people would jokingly refer to her as the ‘badass woman’,” said Allen Alexandre, founder of the Montreal Afro-Canadian Cultural Centre, which is presenting the exhibit. 

Baylis was a Black nurse from Barbados, trained in England with experience at Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal hospital. 

On Sept. 2, 1964 — one day after the Act respecting discrimination in employment was introduced in Quebec — Baylis showed up to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel to apply for a part-time nurse position.

She was told the job was filled. 

Soon, Baylis would learn through a friend that that wasn’t the truth. 

When Baylis phoned the hotel the next day to inquire about the position, she was told it remained open.

Believing what happened was unfair, Baylis filed a complaint under the new Act  against the hotel’s operator, Hilton of Canada and, on Oct. 4, 1965, she won. 

It was the first Canadian case where an institution was found guilty of job discrimination based on race.

The hotel fought the ruling for more than a decade but it was upheld. 

“This is someone who decided to go to court, sue the Hilton, which is a multinational – very, very powerful – but for 11 years decided not to give up,” explained Alexandre. 

After all the years of legal fights, the hotel was fined just $25 dollars. But Alexandre said Baylis understood it was about much more than money.