The City of Nanaimo’s former Chief Financial Officer has been awarded more than half a million dollars after a Human Right Tribunal determined the city’s conduct was discriminatory and violated the code.
According to the tribunal’s report, Victor Mema was employed by the city from 2015 to 2018 before he was suspended and terminated after a report of serious misconduct was filed by a city staff member.
The hearing lasted 19 days and was held between 2020 and 2021 and chaired by Emily Ohler of the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
The report says the city terminated Mema after they grew increasingly concerned over the misuse of his corporate credit card for personal expenses resulting in a high number of purchases and causing him to have issues with repayment.
Mema said in a statement he was treated differently from people who did the same thing as he did, and this led to him being racially profiled and judged.
“Black people can be treated adversely in the workplace because of a conscious or unconscious stereotype,” he says. “Black people are stereotyped as criminals, dishonest and of questionable moral character or poor.”
According to Statistics Canada, 41 per cent of black people have experienced discrimination based on their skin color or race, and this is 15 times higher than the proportion among the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority which is around three per cent.
During the tribunal, the City of Nanaimo said they denied discriminating and argued Mema was suspended, later terminated, based solely on the misconduct allegations.
Ohler said while Mema did make some bad judgment calls, she supports his claims based on his termination.
“I have found that while Mr. Mema certainly made poor decisions regarding the use of the corporate card, which raised concerns,” she says. “However, the decision to suspend and terminate his employment was discriminatory.”
Ohler ruled Mema’s complaints justified against the City of Nanaimo and ordered the city to pay $583,413 in lost wages, $50,000 for compensation for injury to dignity and self-respect, as well as $10,150 in expenses incurred because of the contravention.
Mayor Leonard Krog said in a statement Tuesday he finds the tribunal’s decision concerning and the city is reviewing all the details to determine the next steps after consulting and obtaining advice.
Krog says the city is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all employees and did not offer any other comment at this time.
