Jim Robinson
Posted on 02/15/2012 1:32:23 PM PST by canuck_conservative
Just because a person from a racial minority gets into a nasty argument over the provision of a service does not mean he has been discriminated against, the Ontario Divisional Court has ruled, in the case of a librarian who asked two black lawyers for identification in a courthouse library.
The ruling on alleged racial profiling, rare because it does not involve police, clarifies that discrimination must be proven, not just assumed because the complainant is part of a minority.
“A complainant cannot merely point to his or her membership in a racialized group and an unpleasant interaction to establish a prima facie case of discrimination,” says the judgment, overturning a Human Rights Tribunal finding in the case.
Selwyn Pieters, the complainant and a well-known lawyer on criminal cases in Toronto’s black community, said he is contemplating an appeal.
He and two other black men — lawyer Brian Noble, and Mr. Pieters’ law student, Paul Waldron — were in the lawyers lounge of the Brampton Courthouse in May 2008 when they were confronted by Melissa Firth, a librarian and administrator for the Peel Law Association. She asked them to identify themselves. Only lawyers and law students, not paralegals, are allowed in the lounge. What followed was, by all accounts, an unpleasant confrontation, in which the men proved they were allowed to be there, and accused her of racial profiling....
The three-judge panel found that tribunal vice-chairman Eric Whist unfairly reversed the onus of proof from the complainant to the respondent, and “placed [the librarian] in the difficult position of trying to prove a negative, namely, that her conduct in the performance of her routine duties was not motivated by race and colour.” It also criticized the tribunal’s “misconceived” comparison of the librarian’s conduct to racial profiling by police....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
Notice the HRT was quick to accept his claim, based solely on race. The HRT's in Canada are scary Star-Chambers for the 21st Century, manned by people with grudges - good riddance, and the sooner the better.
Troublemaker Ping
>>Some sanity in the Canadian legal system? Finally??<<
Now the Canadian courts are smarter than US ones...
Wow, an application of common sense.
Wow, an application of common sense.
There was racism there, by the two complainants claiming to have the right not to have to show their identification because they are black.
Reverend Jessie would disagree I imagine.
I should say so! The mighty Human Rights Tribunal laid low. And with such a satisfying verdict -- paying her $20K court costs. And in Ontario, too.
Stunning and encouraging.
Not surprising given the horrible legacy of Canadian slavery.
“A complainant cannot merely point to his or her membership in a racialized group and an unpleasant interaction to establish a prima facie case of discrimination,” says the judgment, overturning a Human Rights Tribunal finding in the case.
Thanks for the piog, canuck_conservative
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