Toronto women tennis players win human rights case over equal playing time

Under the existing rules of the association’s evening mixed league, which has been in place since 1962, local clubs put forth 12 player teams consisting of eight men and four women. Throughout the competition season, there are three men’s doubles teams, two mixed doubles teams and one women’s doubles team.

About five years ago some players started voicing their opposition to the format, but the league did not make any changes that would give women equal playing time as men.

Last August, three women who play in the local clubs launched a formal complaint at the tribunal, alleging the format is discriminatory based on sex and should be changed to a gender equitable scheduling.

“This may have made some sense in the 1960s but it doesn’t make sense anymore,” said Fiona Miller, one of the complainants who plays at the Moore Park Tennis Club in midtown Toronto.

“There’s a bit of unwillingness by the people who run the association to want to change the rules, but we thought it was time to open it up. There are more women out there who also want to play, and it’s unfair to keep them out.”

The association’s vice-president Sonja Zibin was noncommittal on whether they will comply with the tribunal’s decision. But she said the executive committee met to discuss the decision.

“We have studied it carefully and have decided that the matter is best addressed at a meeting of our member clubs. In this regard, we will be scheduling a meeting of club representatives to take place in two weeks’ time,” Zibin wrote in an email to the Star.

She said the association will consult with its lawyers and members to discuss whether to file a request for reconsideration.

The ruling notes that there have been several attempts to change the evening league format from the 8:4 ratio to a 6:6, giving equal opportunity to both men and women.

Official motions presented to the association’s annual general meeting for a vote in 2013 and 2015 were both defeated, according to the ruling.

In a special meeting of its member clubs in 2016, the issue of the format change was brought up again, and club representatives voted in favour of keeping it as is.

Miller said league officials interpreted those vote results as evidence there would not be enough strong women players for a 6:6 format. But she said they are instead a reflection of how the old model has benefited men as they are better represented at decision-making levels of the association.

In her ruling, Pickel rejected the association’s claim that female demand would be low at club levels.

“The evidence from the surveys indicated that there is a significant demand on the part of women players to play in the Mixed League,” she wrote.

Gilbert Ngabo is a general assignment reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @dugilbo