The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal has sentenced a patient to pay $9,500 in moral and punitive damages for discriminating against a health care worker.
According to the facts reported in the judgment, the complainant, who is of Arabic origin, worked as a nursing assistant in a hospital in the Montreal area. During an exchange with a patient, the patient aggressively asked him to leave, told him to go home and treated him with contempt due to his ethnicity.
The hospital coordinator had to intervene, but the patient refused to apologize and asked to be served by other employees who were not of Arabic origin, which was refused.
When the patient was contacted by an investigator from the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission to obtain his version of the facts, he reiterated his remarks and threatened to physically attack the complainant.
During the hearing, the patient tried to justify himself by blaming the effects of morphine, but the judge ruled that intoxication cannot serve as a valid excuse for making discriminatory remarks.
The complainant testified that he found it difficult to work in the weeks following the events. He said it was affecting his sleep and he did not want to come and go from the hospital alone.
The judgment emphasized that a society cannot welcome people from other countries that practice another religion from the majority, and at the same time allow them to be reproached for their origins or their religious practices, nor refuse them employment. The judgement went on to say that a person cannot refuse services from someone due to their heritage and religion.
The Tribunal awarded the complainant $7,500 in moral damages and $2,000 in punitive damages due to the patient’s cavalier attitude and the fact that he still considered his remarks justified.
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