A complaint against a restaurant with three locations in South 性视界传媒 and White Rock has been dismissed by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
A customer who visited one of their locations on July 2, 2020 鈥� Heather Andruski 鈥� filed a complaint against Jalene and Robb Harding, who own all three Hawaiian-inspired coffee shops, after her visit, claiming they discriminated against her when a server sprayed bleach "at and around" a table where she was sitting, according to the made by tribunal member Sonya Pighin.
Andruski, who alleges to have asthma and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), says she experienced adverse physical reactions because of the server鈥檚 spraying of bleach near her, and that those reactions relate to her disabilities. According to Andruski, "She told the server to stop spraying the bleach and that it was making her sick. The server refused to stop, and instead told her if she didn鈥檛 like it, she could go outside," reads the decision, which was posted to the tribunal website Monday (Jan. 13).
"Ms. Andruski further alleges that she asked the server and another staff member for the owner鈥檚 contact information. In response, they gave her a business card. When she called the number on the card, she reached the caf茅 itself, and they laughed at her. She then left the caf茅," the decision continues.
The Hardings, also the respondents, denied Andruski's allegations against them and that she has the alleged disabilities she claims to have, the decision said.
On July 2, 2020, the COVID-19 situation in B.C. was increasingly bad, the Hardings noted, and when Andruski attended at the caf茅, "she never advised the server or any other staff member at the caf茅 of her having a disability."
"While in the caf茅, she started to openly cough towards another customer who was sitting near her. Caf茅 staff asked her to wear a mask, and she refused to do so. Caf茅 staff also suggested to her that she may sit at one of the outside tables. The respondents say that Ms. Andruski refused to leave the caf茅 and began to film other customers. This is when caf茅 staff asked her to leave the caf茅, or they would have the police remove her from it. She eventually left the caf茅," states the decision.
After hearing the parties' evidence during Microsoft Teams video-conference hearings in March and May of 2024, Pighin made her decision, finding the Hardings "did not discriminate against Ms. Andruski contrary to s. 8 of the Code," adding Andruski had proven part of her case, but not other parts of it.
"For those parts of the complainant鈥檚 case that Ms. Andruski has proven, the respondents have also proven that they had a bona fide and reasonable justification for their conduct. I have dismissed the complaint in its entirety," the decision states.
Pighin noted she is satisfied that Andruski has asthma and MCS, and is convinced that both are a disability, but was not convinced that either disability were a factor in some of the adverse impacts Andruski claimed she experienced after she left the caf茅, such as burning lips and eyes, light-headedness, dizziness, nausea, confusion or panic.
"None of these adverse impacts have to do with Ms. Andruski鈥檚 respiratory system. There is no evidence to connect her asthma to these adverse impacts," the decision says, with Pighin also noting Andruski provided no evidence of being treated for MCS symptoms.
Pighin recognized the server and another staff member's laughter at the situation regarding Andruski's coughing, after Andruski had told them she had asthma, to be "inappropriate and unnecessary," but added there was no evidence to be able to conclude their laughter was discriminatory.
Her decision also noted the caf茅's staff did everything they could to accommodate Andruski after she advised them of the impact the bleach was having, saying "there is nothing further that was reasonable or practical that the respondents could have done to accommodate her regarding their cleaning practices and her asthma." Pighin pointed out the server did not spray the bleach mixture again while Andruski was in the caf茅, and also told Andruski to put on a mask or go sit at an outdoor table, but Andruski refused.
While the server may not have been compassionate, that does not change the fact that she did provide Andruski with an option to sit outside, "which was both a reasonable and practical way to allow Ms. Andruski to continue using the services of the caf茅, and at the same time allow the server to continue implementing the caf茅鈥檚 Covid-19 safety plan cleaning standards."
