Abdul Malik, Mohammed Islam and Arif Hossain were variously reprimanded for speaking Bengali, forced to break their religious tenets and then lost their jobs at a Toronto restaurant after asserting their right to be free from discrimination.
The three men practice the Muslim faith. The Centre represented them at a hearing before the Human Rights Tribunal. After the hearing, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario realized a decision finding that the employees had been subjected to racist remarks and threats that they would be replaced with white workers. The decision found that all of the men “suffered discrimination during their employment in the workplace on the basis of creed, colour, ancestry, place of origin and ethnic origin.”
The Tribunal found the restaurant owners had retaliated against the three men after they questioned how they were treated, resulting in the loss of their employment.
The Tribunal ordered the restaurant owners to:
- Pay $26,653 in lost wages for all three men, less statutory deductions;
- Pay $71,000 as financial compensation for the three men for violation of their inherent right to be free from discrimination.
To read the full decision, visit CanLII