...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

More human rights hijinks in B.C.: Another sage decision from the ‘roo tribunal that tried Mark Steyn and Macleans. From the Vancouver Province (my bolds):

…By all accounts, [Ghassan] Asad was well-liked by staff and management, both for his personality and good work, with an employee review dated August 22, 2001 reading: "Ghassan is an excellent employee and a tremendous asset to our company. His dedication is greatly appreciated and he is well liked by his colleagues and the company management."

However, according to the tribunal's 227 page report, that was soon about to change.

After being granted his Canadian citizenship on Aug. 24, 2001, a day he described as "one of the best days of my life," Asad celebrated by going on a trip that included stops in Toronto, Buffalo, Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Detroit.

On his return to work on September 4, 2001, Asad shared with his coworkers tales of this voyage, showing them pictures and even writing a small story in the company's monthly newsletter about his experiences.

Any enthusiasm they showed, however, was quickly overshadowed by the terrorist attacks seven days later. It was then, claimed the report that Asad started to feel he was being made the target of suspicion, with some coworkers going so far as to suggest he was involved given his recent trip.

One coworker allegedly said: "Isn't it suspicious that Ghassan is Arab and Muslim, and he went to New York and Washington?"

Suspicious glances turned to outright accusations when the RCMP showed up at Kinexus in what would develop into a series of interviews about his trip and his political views. In one interview, police allegedly asked him if he liked or had ever met with Osama bin-Laden.

It was later determined the complaint had originated from the family member of one of Asad's coworkers. Asad was never charged.

Unable to cope with the mounting stress and claiming he had lost trust and faith in everyone, Asad took leave from work. While the judgment claims things improved somewhat on his return Oct. 1, 2001, he continued to feel some of his coworkers, including company CEO Dr. Steven Pelech, were "suspicious" of him.

He said management failed to address his concerns and he continued to feel alienated and shunned right up to his termination in March 2003.

"He (Pelech) didn't respect me anymore," Asad is quoted as saying in the judgment. "He would just ignore me when I wanted to talk about work-related issues."

Pelech, however, told the Province that while Asad's behavior around 9/11 was "strange," staff did their best to address his concerns and told him they did not "feel that he was a threat." He noted the staff at Kinexus is multi-cultural.

"We tried to be sympathetic," said Pelech, adding Asad continued to be rewarded for his good work with a promotion and salary increase. "What we tried to do was to see how we could help him understand that the management itself did not feel he was guilty of anything."

When asked if Asad had been made the subject of racial profiling or taunts he answered: "No. Not at all. If any comments were made they were made in jest. They were not serious."

He said Asad was eventually terminated because he was no longer performing his work duties satisfactorily.

"I think he is a very emotional individual," said Pelech. "I'm sure, in his own mind, he thinks he was persecuted...I think that what has happened here is he saw it as an opportunity to make some money or strike back."

In the end, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal found Kinexus discriminated against Asad but that the discrimination was not related to his termination because the employers were able to establish cause.

He was awarded approximately $11,000…

So tell us, ‘roos, how should everyone have acted when a guy from Saudi Arabia started acting “strange” following 9/11? Ignored it? Pretended he had a grip on things, when, clearly, he did not? Under such circumstances,wasn’t it understandable why authorities might want to err on the side of caution and question the oddly-behaved Saudi rather than assume than everything was hunky-dory?

It sounds to me like the people who really should be compensating Ghassan for his “pain and suffering” are the either the Saudis, who’ve exported their toxic ideology far and wide, and whose Kingdom was the provenance of the bulk of the 9/11 attackers, or, barring that, Al Qaeda, the jihadis who launched the attacks that engendered the suspicion. Good luck collecting from them, though.

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:20 | link | comments

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