Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

The Tribunal dismissed Simon Banda’s claim that Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the Respondent, discriminated against him during a training program to become a Correctional Officer. Mr. Banda identifies as Black and is of Zambian origin.

The Respondent ran a training program for candidates looking for a career in corrections. Mr. Banda attended the training program, hoping to work as a Correctional Officer with CSC. After completing 11 of the 12 weeks scheduled for training, CSC released Mr. Banda from the program.

Mr. Banda says that the Respondent training officers singled him out and treated him more severely than White recruits in the program, in part due to his race. Mr. Banda says that an incomplete homework assignment led to a chain of other discriminatory events. The events included over-scrutiny of his performance and unfair assessments on evaluations, which ultimately resulted in his release from the program.

The Respondent denies Mr. Banda’s claim. It says that Mr. Banda’s release was because he failed the required tests. After three strikes, CSC immediately releases a recruit from the program. Failing the shotgun test was Mr. Banda’s third strike.

The Tribunal dismissed Mr. Banda’s complaint fully. The Tribunal found that none of the incidents that Mr. Banda raised showed his race was a factor in how CSC treated him. There was nothing discriminatory in Mr. Banda’s failure on the shotgun test. The Tribunal could not find a link between the incidents and the realities of persistent stereotyping and anti-Black racism, even when looking at the incident as a whole. The Tribunal found that CSC properly released Mr. Banda because of his third strike on the shotgun test.