Devika Ratnayake
Devika Ratnayake
Devika Ratnayake (Devika) is a practicing lawyer. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005. She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2006 and is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario, the Canadian Association of Workplace Investigators, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association.
Devika began her legal career at a pre-eminent boutique litigation firm in Toronto and expanded the scope of her legal practice to assist clients resolve legal issues through proactive approaches and alternative dispute resolution processes. She has appeared before several courts and administrative tribunals including the Federal Court of Canada, the Superior Court of Justice, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal and all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Devika is also a workplace investigator, mediator, and part-time Member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). As an experienced workplace investigator for more than 10 years, Devika has conducted numerous individual, complex and systemic human rights investigations in the private and public sectors, including at the Ontario Human Rights Commission, municipal governments, post-secondary institutions and social services organizations.
A significant part of Devika’s investigation practice focuses on the complexities and often intersecting grounds of race, sex, gender and gender identity. She has extensive experience conducting race-based complaints including anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism and islamophobia in the employment and service areas. Devika also has a thorough understanding of critical race and anti-oppression theories and applies these in her investigations.
In addition, as a consultant within the government and retail industries, including the City of Toronto and Canadian Tire Corporation, she has provided counsel in both unionized and non-unionized workplaces on a wide spectrum of workplace and human rights matters, conflict resolution strategies and equity issues.
Devika also holds a Bachelor of Arts from York University, a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from York University, a Certificate from the Association of Workplace Investigators and a Certificate in Community Mediation from the St. Stephen’s Community House. She volunteers at the York Region Community Housing Mediation Services in her spare time.
As a valued member of the MIT Team, Devika prides herself in providing high-quality and timely workplace investigation services that are impartial, equitable and able to withstand the highest level of legal scrutiny.
