Laugh and the World Laughs With You; Own a Comedy Club and You Cry Alone

The National Post has a good recap of the Guy Earle/lesbian heckler case that came before the B.C. 'roos this past week. As I'm sure you know, it involves a chick who was playing tonsil hockey with her girlfriend during a comedian's act at a comedy club, and who got into a bit of an argy-bargy with Guy Earle, the guy who was the M.C. that evening. Long story short, the tonguer didn't take to kindly to Earle's references to her sexual preferences, and her complaint ended up going to the same pseudo-court that, ahem, "adjudicated" Elmo and the Sockies' gripe against Mark Steyn and Maclean's.

With all the attention focused on Earle, it's easy to overlook the other guy on the receiving end of the state-sanctioned shakedown--the owner of the comedy club. He's an immigrant from Iraq who came to Canada to make good by opening his own business, and who instead has to cough up big coin because of all this lesbian nonsense:

...Salam Ismail is the hapless owner of Zesty's, the restaurant where the mudslinging took place. An Iraqi immigrant, Mr. Ismail has hosted Laff Riot Girls on many occasions and he says he holds nothing against gays and lesbians. He apologized to Ms. Pardy one day after the May, 2007, incident. He offered to replace her sunglasses, the ones Mr. Earle snapped in two after Ms. Pardy, offended by his comments, twice doused him with water.

She turned down Mr. Ismail's offer and pursued her discrimination claim, the tribunal heard. Her lawyer, Devyn Cousineau, works for Vancouver's Community Legal Assistance Society, and her case is supported by the society's Human Rights Clinic, funded by B.C.'s Ministry of the Attorney-General.

Ms. Pardy is seeking unspecified damages. Earlier, she had sought $20,000 from Mr. Earle and $20,000 from Mr. Ismail. Both men have already shelled out thousands of dollars in legal fees and related expenses. Unwilling to pay more, Mr. Ismail had his businessman brother represent him at the tribunal this week. Sam Ismail is no lawyer, but he gamely cross-examined the complainant and two other witnesses that Ms. Cousineau called this week. All three women testified that Ms. Pardy did nothing to provoke Mr. Earle's profanity-laced tirade, that it left her devastated, and that she hasn't been the same since. It is alleged that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, thanks to the hour she spent inside Salam Ismail's restaurant...

Maybe Mr. Ismail can recoup some of his losses by lodging a complaint with the BCHRT citing his post-traumatic stress disorder, the result of a lesbian's ongoing harrassment. Should his case be accepted, at least his legal expenses would be covered, and he could afford to hire a real lawyer.