Human Rights Complaint Upheld

A human rights board of inquiry has upheld a complaint of discrimination on the basis of ethnic or national origin filed by a Halifax man. Aleem Ibrahim was awarded $6,400 as compensation for general damages and lost wages.

Mr. Ibrahim alleged that while he was an employee of Dartmouth Volkswagen he was subjected to differential treatment by management which eventually lead to his dismissal as a sales agent in August 1998. Mr. Ibrahim claimed that other employees engaged in the same behaviours for which he was reprimanded but did not receive similar disciplinary measures.

His former employer, Dartmouth Volkswagen, claimed that they dismissed the complainant because of his sales performance, arriving at the job late and comments which were made to another employee at the dealership.

Mr. Kenneth Crawford, chair of the board of inquiry, believed that Mr. Ibrahim had suffered great pain and humiliation, and should be adequately compensated. He did not believe Gary Purcell, sales manager at the time of Mr. Ibrahim's employment, when he said that Mr. Ibrahim was not a team player.

In rendering his decision, Mr. Crawford noted that the only time Mr. Ibrahim learned of problems with his sales performance was when he filed his human rights complaint. This led the chair to conclude that the reasons given for Mr. Ibrahim's dismissal were only pretext on the part of his employer.

Boards of inquiry are the final stage in the human rights complaint process. They are independent, public hearings into complaints of discrimination.