The Alberta Human Rights Commission has dismissed a pair of┬аcomplaints filed by two men who say they were discriminated against when they didn’t wear masks┬аinside retail stores last fall.
One incident took place at a Costco store last November┬аand the other at a Peoples Jewellers store in October.┬а
The decisions were released┬аAug. 16, 2021, signed by Michael Gottheil, chief of the commission and tribunals.
In both cases, Gottheil found the companies were reasonable in┬аinsisting customers and employees wear masks to protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.┬а
On Nov. 17, 2020, Peter Szeles went into a Costco in Edmonton and told┬аstaff he had a disability that exempted him from wearing a face mask.
An employee suggested Szeles could wear a face shield instead, but he refused. Szeles argued that a face shield was stigmatizing, was meant to single him out as a person with a disability and would subject him to humiliation.┬а
An altercation ensued, the police were called over and Szeles was removed from the store, the written decision says.┬а
A clip of the interaction is also posted on Szeles’s Facebook page. The video┬аshows Szeles on his knees, refusing to stand up and leave the store, with two officers carrying him out and putting him in a police van.
WATCH | Police remove Szeles from the Costco:┬а
In November 2020, Peter Szeles was arrested in an Edmonton Costco following an altercation that occured after the man refused to wear a mask inside the store. Szeles’ complaint to the Alberta Human Rights Commission was dismissed in August 2021. 1:53
Costco submitted several arguments in response to Szeles’s complaint, including that it provided appropriate alternatives, like the option to┬аwear a face shield┬аin the store and various online shopping and home delivery options.┬а
In the second case, James Beaudin was blocked from entering a Peoples Jewellers store in Edmonton. He said┬аhealth reasons prevented him from wearing a mask.┬а
The store staff pointed out alternatives, including phone and online shopping, with free delivery or curb-side pickup. Beaudin objected, but the store staff was firm, and he┬аwas told to leave, the written decision says.
Balance of rights
Jessica Eisen, a University of Alberta law professor specializing in human rights, said the commission’s decisions are understandable based on the Alberta Human Rights Act.┬а
According to the┬аdecisions, the companies showed they were responding in good faith to the seriousness of the pandemic, she said.┬а
“They presented lots of evidence to the effect that there was a really good reason for these policies тАФ they were needed to protect their employees and to protect the other customers in the stores,” she said.┬а
Eisen said human rights laws are based on balance.┬а
“I think a lot of people are under the misconception that human rights acts and codes generally protect people’s right to do whatever they want in all circumstances,” Eisen said. “In fact, human rights laws are designed to protect fundamental interests in a range of circumstances.”┬а
Discrimination on the basis of race, religion and disability is covered in human rights legislation, but in these cases, businesses showed they were trying to do the right thing in protecting people’s health while providing options to customers, she said.┬а
The two decisions are┬аamong more than 100 complaints the Alberta Human Rights Commission has received since March 2020 related to mandatory masks and vaccines.┬аCam Stewart, a spokesperson with the HRC, said the commission has accepted them┬аas formal complaints and is┬аin the process of reviewing them.┬а
Most complaints┬аare resolved in conciliation, investigation or at the director’s office before going to a tribunal hearing, he noted.
While investigators are going through the complaints process, the details of the complaints are┬аconfidential, Stewart said.┬а
