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Loomba's fight over hard-hat
order continues in court
WSN
Network
 ONTARIO: The
lawyer of a Home Depot manager accused of discriminating against a
Sikh security guard by demanding he trade in his turban for a hard
hat described the guard to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario as
an "angry" man who "tends to exaggerate."
The mudslinging
continued at the tribunal hearing on
Bay St.
as both sides made their final arguments.
On Dec. 6, 2005,
Deepinder Loomba, a security guard contracted under Reilly's
Security, said Milton Home Depot assistant manager Brian Busch told
him he had to take off his turban in exchange for a hard hat because
of the construction taking place inside the store.
"Like any other
human being, Mr. Loomba can get angry. And he did get angry," lawyer
Kevin MacNeill, who's defending Busch and Home Depot, told the
tribunal's vice-chairman, Ena Chadha.
"He's a deeply
proud salesman, who exaggerates, and who lets his anger colour his
testimony," MacNeill said. Loomba in the past worked for Castrol Oil
in Uganda.
During his
testimony last month, Busch said it's possible Loomba may have
misheard "fired" instead of "fined," in case Occupational Health and
Safety inspectors showed up at the site.
Both sides
argued the credibility of notes that Loomba wrote outlining his
complaints and timeline of events the day of the dispute.
"You have
specific remarks that were taken as religious slurs and you have
examples of rudeness from Mr. Busch detailed in writing," said
Loomba's lawyer, Raj Anand.
"(It) suggested
Mr. Loomba misheard 'fired.' But this is ironic, according to the
documentation, because it happened outside and Mr. Busch says he
didn't have any interaction with Mr. Loomba outside."
But MacNeill
said the notes are unreliable and should be given minimum weight.
"Mr. Loomba
knows the value of those notes; has been trained how to write them
out," he said. "Despite all this training, there are all these
contradictions that don't stack up. He let the tug of self-interest
get the better of him."
Loomba, who's
seeking $40,000 in damages, said he has had trouble sleeping,
headaches and hours were cut from his security job.
There is no word
when a decision will be announced, but it could take weeks or even
months, Anand said.
9
September 2009
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