A Win-Win Proposition for Her; a Lose-Lose One for Us

This was 'tweeted' by the OHRC. Read it and titter:

Termination of Aboriginal relations trainer by Ontario government ruled discriminatory

THUNDER BAY, ON, April 27 /CNW/ - Bonnie Couchie was terminated after the first of six sessions she was contracted to deliver on Aboriginal relations for staff from various Ontario government ministries. Evaluations from that first session included comments such as needing training "without all the whining about all the past historical injustices" as well as praise for Ms. Couchie being "good and interesting." Her non-Aboriginal co-presenter also received mixed reviews, eliciting comments such as "was this the first time [he] saw the material?"

One week later Ms. Couchie's contract was terminated at the direction of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Her co-presenter, however, was retained - with the direction that he get some "refresher work." Ms. Couchie has a Master's Degree focused on Native Studies, decades of experience as an independent workshop facilitator and presenter, and has taught Native Studies at 6 different post-secondary institutions.

Witnesses at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario hearing testified about that first day of training, one confirming that workshop participants "expressed hostility during the training." Vice Chair Jennifer Scott of the Human Rights Tribunal concluded that Ms. Couchie was subject to "heightened scrutiny, disproportionate blame and over-reaction when compared to her co-presenter." Vice-Chair Scott also found that the Ministry "was prepared to remediate the poor performance of the non-Aboriginal person, but was not prepared to remediate the performance of the Aboriginal person." The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered the Ministry to pay Ms. Couchie $20,000 in general damages. 2011 HRTO 689

"As a First Nations person, every aspect of the discriminatory treatment shook me to my very core," said Couchie. "The discriminatory termination also had the effect of thwarting improved relations with the Aboriginal peoples, the very thing they sought by organizing the training," continued Couchie.

Amy Britton-Cox, Ms. Couchie's lawyer from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre said, "The Tribunal's decision underlines the nature of systemic discrimination, where unconscious beliefs drive hiring and firing decisions."

Yeah, us "hegemons" and our "unconscious beliefs": they--and we--suck. The most amusing part of this "discrimination" story (apart from the stuff about "all the whining," that is): the complaint was lodged against a ministry of the Ontario government, which is supposed to have internalized all the OHRC "human rights" crap. Not so funny: we, the taxpayers, are double losers. We're on the hook for picking up the tab for Ms. Couchie's legal expenses as she wended her way through the "human rights" process and for her big fat payoff.

Update: Kathy Shaidle riffs on the complainant's immensely and unfortunately riffable name.