Location: Ontario, Canada.
Hello everyone! 20 F looking for some advice.
A small business hired me on Saturday, July 5th, 2025. I did not disclose my pregnancy verbally at the time; however, I had created a Facebook post looking for hiring jobs, and in the comments, I mentioned that I was expecting.
Anyways, I confided in an employee (my fault, I guess, lol) and they told him that I was expecting. This morning (July 8th, 2025), before the start of my shift, he called me into his office. He started by telling me that I was late (I was not, I was scheduled for 9:15, showed up at 9:10) and then began telling me that the employee had told him I was pregnant. I confirmed, and he blew up on me! His words, almost exactly, just more formal, “You are required by law to tell me that you are pregnant, you breached a non-disclosure by not telling me, I can no longer have you here because you are pregnant, and I cannot have this happening. You are a liar, and that just doesn’t sit right with me”. So, naturally, I apologized and mentioned I sort of thought maybe he knew because of the Facebook post, and then he told me that I never commented that I was pregnant, but I know I did because another poster acknowledged it. Afterwards, he just told me to leave with no other explanation.
This man probably has about 12 cameras, all with audio, within his store (that I had not been notified about until after another employee warned me), so I believe that he would have footage of this termination.
Essentially, I am curious if there is a case I can make of this? He is a small bakery in a small town, so I am unsure if they have other rules they can follow. I know it is illegal to fire somebody for being pregnant, and I also believe it is illegal to record with audio without informing the employees. But is he required to follow these as his own business?
I am also curious about what exactly he might mean by breaching a Non-Disclosure? I hadn’t signed any legal forms or anything before my employment, so there’s no way I even signed or agreed to a Non-Disclosure. My fiancé thinks he may be using this as a scare tactic so that I do not go to the HRTO or my lawyer.
TIA!