Tenants’ religious rights violated by landlord who refused to remove shoes

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2017/05/02/rights-violated-by-landlord-who-refused-to-remove-shoes.html


Tenants’ religious rights violated by landlord who refused to remove shoes

A human rights tribunal has awarded $12,000 to a Muslim couple in Brampton, who claimed their landlord failed to accommodate their religious practices.
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Walid Madkour says he and his wife are relieved their human rights case is over.
WALID MADKOUR

Walid Madkour says he and his wife are relieved their human rights case is over. "Being different is nothing to be ashamed of,” he says.

By: Staff Torstar News Service Published on Tue May 02 2017
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has awarded $12,000 to a Muslim couple, who claimed their landlord failed to accommodate their prayer times and notify the wife when she was home alone before bringing in prospective new tenants for apartment viewings.
“The respondent discriminated against the applicants by failing to accommodate their religious practices relating to prayer times by providing advance notice shortly before showing the apartment,” tribunal panel vice-chair Jo-Anne Pickel wrote in a recent 38-page decision.
“He also failed to accommodate their religious practices by refusing to remove his shoes when entering their apartment and especially their prayer space. Finally, he also harassed them, at least in part, because of their religiously-based accommodation requests.”
The decision is believed to be the first of its kind from the tribunal with respect to discrimination based on creed and housing.
The overall intake of human rights cases based on creed has been on the rise, up by 13 per cent to 837 last year compared to 741 in 2015. During the same period the number of inquiries specifically about Muslim identity went up by 39 per cent to 196 cases from 141, said the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.
Pickel rejected the landlord’s argument that the tenants were attempting to “impose their way of life” on others, ruling that there’s no evidence to support the claim.
“This claim by the respondent echoes arguments that have become common within public discourse. Unfortunately, attempts by Muslims to practice their faith have increasingly been interpreted as an attempt to impose their way of life on others,” wrote Pickel.
“Far from seeking to impose their way of life on anyone, the applicants were merely making simple requests for the accommodation of their religious practices.”
According to the tribunal, Walid Madkour and Heba Ismail, who immigrated to Canada from Egypt, moved into their Brampton apartment in December 2014 and agreed a month later to move out of the unit by Feb. 28, 2015 due to issues with the temperature of the apartment, the use of the internet and the request for a quiet environment at night.
The human rights complaint was based on the events and correspondence between the couple and the landlord when the landlord started planning viewings of the apartment to prospective tenants in late February 2015.
Despite repeated requests by Madkour for an additional five-minute warning so his wife had time to put on modest attire before the viewings, the landlord John Alabi — a Christian, according to the ruling — would only provide blocks of time that prospective tenants would be coming, with 24 hours’ notice.
The tribunal found Alabi discriminated against the couple when he failed to comply with their request that he remove his shoes when he entered their apartment and especially when he entered the prayer space in the bedroom, which must be kept “free of any contamination, including any discharge from humans or animals.”
Although the landlord insisted he was wearing indoor shoes and that he had removed rubber coverings on the shoes when he entered the couple’s apartment, that was disputed by the couple, who videotaped Alabi during one of the viewings.
On the video, the tribunal said, Ismail could be heard telling Alabi he should remove his shoes as she and her husband prayed in the bedroom, adding that it was disrespectful and an act of racism not to do so. However, the respondent could be seen wearing shoes on the video whereas the prospective tenant was in socks, noted the tribunal.
“The respondent’s refusal to remove the shoes when walking into the applicants’ prayer space represented vexatious conduct linked to the applicants’ religion that was known to be unwelcome,” said the tribunal.
“There is no doubt that the respondent knew that the conduct was unwelcome as the applicants told him so a number of times.”
Peta-Gaye Drummond, Alabi’s counsel, said her client was disappointed at the tribunal decision, feeling it was unjust.
“He has maintained that the accusations against him arise out of misunderstanding. In his 15 years as a landlord, he has rented to so many people from different ethnic origins and has not had this kind of dispute being labelled a discriminator,” she said. “He was sympathetic to the tenants, but maintains his innocence.”
Drummond said her client is considering filing a request for reconsideration to the tribunal, which must be submitted in 30 days.
In an interview, Madkour said he and his wife never intended to create trouble or inconvenience, and are relieved the case is over.
“I feel the page is closed. It was a painful experience for my wife. We just wanted to forget about the case and move on,” said Madkour, who along with his wife has since moved to a different city.
“We are happy with the tribunal decision because it proved that if you are genuine, you get your rights. We didn’t do anything wrong. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Ismail, who immigrated to Canada in 2012, said she and her husband had not experienced discrimination and racism in the country.
“It was not about money,” she said. “We don’t want anyone in the future to have the same experience. No one should be able to get away with it.”
Alabi has also been ordered to take the Ontario Rights Commission’s online courses, “Human Rights in Rental Housing” and “Policy on Human Rights and Rental Housing,” within 30 days.

All of a sudden I'm a racist?'; Ont. landlord feels 'powerless' being labelled human rights violator
MICHELE MANDEL, TORONTO SUN

http://m.en.canoe.com/CNEWS/Canada/2017/05/03/22722139.html

Yesterday at 2:06 PM


After almost a quarter century of being a law-abiding, hard-working member of society, John Alabi never imagined his adopted country would label him a human rights violator and order him to pay $12,000 in compensation to his Muslim tenants. (MICHAEL PEAKE/POSTMEDIA NETWORK)
17
TORONTO — This poor man came to Canada from Nigeria 22 years ago in hopes of building a better life for his family.
After almost a quarter century of being a law-abiding, hard-working member of society, he never imagined his adopted country would label him a human rights violator and order him to pay $12,000 in compensation to his Muslim tenants.
"I was humiliated, I was made to feel I have no rights, I was made to feel that I'm not wanted in society," says John Alabi, 52. "I feel powerless. They rented my place for only two months. Two months! It's just not fair."
The small landlord came forward to explain his position after the Sun told his shocking story last week: The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found he failed to accommodate the religious needs of Walid Madkour and Heba Ismail by not giving them more than the legal 24-hour notice before showing the apartment and by failing to remove his shoes when he entered the bedroom they used to pray.
Now the travel agent is on the hook for money he doesn't have to pay tenants who were in his home for only two months. And he doesn't feel he did anything wrong.
For 15 years Alabi rented the in-law suite in his home to help pay his mortgage. A tenant's religion wasn't important to him.
"I go beyond all that. I just see everybody as human beings like me. That's why I took them in," he says. "We got along. And then all of a sudden I'm a racist?"
After they gave notice in February 2015, Alabi says he bent over backwards to accommodate the Egyptian-born couple in booking acceptable times to show their apartment to prospective new tenants. At first, Madkour tried to argue that the landlord couldn't show the unit when his wife was home. Alabi explained that with 24 hours notice, the law gave him the authority to enter even if she was there.
They called the police, claiming that his shovelling snow outside their apartment was harassment. The officers confirmed that Alabi was legally allowed to show their unit when they were there. That's when they suddenly raised the religion issue, he says, and told him he couldn't enter during their prayer times. He agreed.
That still wasn't enough, Alabi says.
In addition to the 24-hour notice, and the prayer times, they also wanted him to text in advance. But when he texted them, they didn't reply - so he stopped.
And then there was the issue of removing his shoes. At the tribunal, the couple said they prayed in their bedroom and the floor had to remain clean. Yet Alabi claims the couple never had a problem before when he wore his shoes to make repairs in the apartment. And he wasn't wearing outside shoes, but the shoes he wore in his own home. He'd come around to their apartment wearing rubbers over them and then take them off at the door. For that, he was accused of being racist.
"I have been victimized," Alabi says. "They are using their religion to victimize me."
The tenants waited eight months before filing their grievance with the human rights tribunal, where they receive free representation. They even searched his Facebook page and found a joke they considered offensive to bolster their case. The tribunal agreed he harassed them and failed in his duty to accommodate their religious needs - and awarded them $6,000 each - plus interest.
"What about my rights?" asks the father of three, who has since sold the house. "What about my rights to show my place so I could rent it and put food on the table for my family?"
He doesn't know what to do.
"I don't have the money. I work very hard. If they go into my bank account right now, I don't have $12,000 there," says Alabi, who lost thousands of dollars in legal fees and time off work.
"It has just shattered me. I am broken. I am broken."
Broken and disillusioned.
"For the first time in my 20-something years in Canada, I am sorry that I came to this country."

Canada is always softer towards certain community - Especially liberal party ( vote bank)

I used to vote for them but i Don't vote anymore -

BTW: rental rules are mostly in favor of tenant , landlord always suffer
getting good tenant is blessing these days...

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'Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail.' (Param Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Manoj Pandey)

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Originally posted by Blue_Peafowl

Canada is always softer towards certain community - Especially liberal party ( vote bank)

I used to vote for them but i Don't vote anymore -

BTW: rental rules are mostly in favor of tenant , landlord always suffer
getting good tenant is blessing these days...

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I pointed you at the stars and all you saw was the tip of my finger

not surprised .. i was expecting your reply...

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'Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail.' (Param Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Manoj Pandey)

Stories like these roll up to conclusions by many to pick and chose the tenants carefully.

So what is my conclusion ? - There are people who are extremely sensitive in their life , who have zero tolerance towards certain things. Respect that and never chose them as tenants as you are sure to falter one day, invariably you will , no matter how careful and lawful you are. Canada is generous, govt is liberal and it is a big country, there is lot of space for extra sensitive people. Good luck and their god is to speed.

Thanks to this tenant for teaching a good lesson to all the ignorant and unaware landlords. How dare they ?!

Any guesses who is the loser here ? Any landlord in the house ?

On side note - all big books mentions forgiveness and tolerance in every page of it.

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Originally posted by san-hugo

On side note - all big books mentions forgiveness and tolerance in every page of it.

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