Court accepts plea of Sikh sacked for refusing to shave beard

Toronto, Jun 12 (PTI) After a five-year legal battle, a
Sikh man who was sacked for refusing to shave his beard has
won the right to get his discrimination complaint heard after
a Canadian court rejected a challenge by an oilsands major.

Devinder Wadhwa, an electrician who claimed his
religious rights were violated by oilsands giant Syncrude
Canada, filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights and
Citizenship Commission in July, 2003.

A ruling this week by the Alberta Court of Appeal
cleared the way for Wadhwa to have his overdue hearing before
the provincial Human Rights and Citizenship Commission.

"The legislative scheme must be read to further the goal
of speedy and inexpensive resolution of human-rights
complaints," Justice Ronald Berger wrote on behalf of the
three-member bench. "(Syncrude's) appeal... was premature," he
was quoted as saying by Edmonton Post.

Wadhwa was asked by his employer if he was prepared to
shave his beard to wear a standard mask but he explained that
his religious beliefs prevented him from doing so. He provided
an alternative mask and asked the company to accommodate him,
but it refused.

The commission was prepared to deal with the complaint
at that time, but Syncrude appealed to the Court of Queen's
Bench and to the Court of Appeal. Judges in both courts
refused to quash the commission's decision.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the company's issues were
valid, but it must wait until the commission gives a final
ruling to appeal.

Syncrude lawyers had argued the company was not Wadhwa's
"employer", instead he was employed by a subcontractor and
that Syncrude should not have to deal with his complaint.

A date for Wadhwa's full hearing has not yet been set.