The director of a B.C. massage school has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars for discriminatory comments she made to a Muslim man who wanted to book a treatment. The tribunal member determined that the school owner discriminated against the man based on his perceived religion, invoking harmful and pervasive stereotypes about Muslim men.
The school owner cited misinformation from far-right, anti-Muslim websites to justify her actions, which included demanding the man denounce parts of the Quran and bring a police officer with him for a massage. The tribunal member found these submissions to be based on stereotype and vilification of all Muslim people.
The man who filed the complaint expressed shock and hurt at being denied service based on his religion, despite living in Canada for 25 years. He said the discrimination destabilized his sense of belonging and deprived him of equal access to public life.
The tribunal ordered the school owner to pay $10,000 in compensation for injury to the man’s dignity and an additional $2,500 for improper conduct during the tribunal process.