OTTAWA - A man who was thrown out of the RCMP training school 11 years ago has been awarded more than $100,000 in back pay and been granted an order that he be reinstated as a cadet with Canada¹s national police force. The Federal Court of Appeal says Ali Tahmourpour was unfairly discriminated against based on racial and religious grounds during his time as an RCMP cadet in 1999.
Tahmourpour was dismissed from the RCMP academy in Saskatchewan, known as the Depot, just past the halfway mark of a 22-week recruit training program. Instructors cited weaknesses in communication skills, decision-making and firearms as their reasons for releasing Tahmourpour from the Depot. Tahmourpour says he flunked out due to the treatment he suffered at the hands of the RCMP instructors who he says singled him out due to his Iranian background and Muslim faith.
At the training academy, Tahmourpour says he was yelled at and berated. An instructor used derogatory language to question his signature, which he writes from right to left in the Persian style, he says.
In one key incident Tahmourpour said he was singled out when a physical training instructor announced that an exception to the rule against jewelry during training was being made for Cadet Tahmourpour due to his religious requirements.
Tahmourpour filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and was awarded a settlement that could have reached $1 million, including legal fees. The RCMP appealed that decision and won at Federal Court, which ruled that the case should return to the human rights tribunal for review.
On Monday, Justice Karen Sharlow of the Federal Court of Appeal overruled the lower court and upheld most of the decision of the human rights tribunal, though she ordered a portion of the compensation awarded to Tahmourpour to be reconsidered.
"My client is elated that the Federal Court of Appeal has vindicated his human rights and paved the way for his return to the RCMP,² said lawyer Paul Champ. ³All Mr Tahmourpour wants is a fair shot in a non-discriminatory work environment.²
The RCMP is reviewing the decision and has not announced whether it will accept or appeal the decision.
