File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Human Rights Complaint

Human rights complaint against City of Kamloops to move ahead

Apr 23, 2021 | 3:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — A B.C. Supreme Court judge has squashed a City of Kamloops effort to stop the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal from hearing a complaint made by one of the City’s employees.

In May 2019, the Tribunal turned down a City application to dismiss a complaint filed by Peter Spina, who was employed as a Solid Waste Truck Operator.

Spina originally filed the complaint saying he had been subject to bullying and harassment on the job starting in 2011. He said a co-worker used homophobic slurs and derogatory comments related to ancestry, and alleged that Spina’s employment was related to his family connection to the City of Kamloops. Spina’s mother, the late Marg Spina, was a city councillor from 2008 until her passing in 2017.

Spina also alleges that the co-worker deliberately made physical contact with him.

The City hired an investigator to investigate the complaints, and she reported in 2018 that there had been “harassing incidents of a sporadic nature”. The City gave the alleged harasser a five-day unpaid suspension.

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: Culturally appropriate food goes beyond the ingredients on a plate

20h ago

Two and Out

PETERS: Whether building up or tearing down, Kamloops is what you make it

Dec 13, 2024

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: How to reduce food waste in Kamloops during the festive season

Dec 13, 2024

Even so, Spina went forward with his complaint to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal has not ruled on the validity of Spina’s complaint as the City applied to dismiss it. When its application to dismiss was denied, the City then asked the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review, saying the Tribunal had been unreasonable and unfair in its denial.

In a decision posted Wednesday (Apr. 21), B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair ruled in favour of Spina and the Tribunal.

Click here to read the full decision.