Rights commission rebukes Concordia in profiling case
The Quebec Human Rights Commission has recommended Concordia University and a security firm pay a total of $33,000 in damages to a woman who alleges she was expelled from the campus because she is black and campus security guards assumed she was homeless.
Chantal Lapointe, a community activist of Haitian origin in her 50s, had been doing some paperwork at the library at Concordia’s downtown campus on the afternoon of July 9, 2013. She left the library, rolling a small suitcase and carrying two other bags. She says she was heading through the underground
passageways toward a pharmacy on Ste-Catherine St. when she was stopped by Concordia security guards near the entrance to Concordia’s Engineering-Visual Arts building.
They asked her for identification, and when she asked why she was being stopped while others were allowed to pass, the security guards called police. The police officers then asked Lapointe to leave the building. Believing she was the victim of racial and social profiling, she filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
“Why did they focus on me?” Lapointe asked at a news conference Tuesday morning organized by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations. “They chose me to maybe try to humiliate me. That’s the way I feel about it. … I believe in human rights. Everyone deserves respect even if they are homeless. They are human beings. First of all, they should be treated as human beings.”
Lapointe, who is not and has never been homeless, said she is a former Concordia student, but now regularly frequents campus libraries at Concordia, Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill to work on social activism projects. She said she does paperwork in the library, does not break any laws, and doesn’t smoke or drink or disturb anyone in any way while frequenting these campuses.
The commission found in its investigation that Lapointe was stopped without reason. In their security reports, the commission notes, the guards referred to Lapointe as “a strange woman,” “Madame Voodoo,” “black female homeless” and “large black woman.”
The commission found that Lapointe’s race and perceived social condition played a determining role in the discriminatory decision of the security agents to mistreat her, leading to her expulsion from the premises.
The commission is proposing that the university and its security firm, the Montreal division of the Corps Canadien des Commissionnaires (CCC), together pay Lapointe $20,000 in moral damages for denying her human rights, that the CCC pay an additional $3,000 in punitive damages, and that Concordia pay $10,000 in punitive damages.
The commission also recommends that Concordia change its policy that permits security guards to expel people from campus if they don’t produce identification, saying it discriminates against homeless people.
If Concordia does not agree to comply by Oct. 27, the commission will mandate its legal department to bring the case before the Human Rights Tribunal, a court of law that can impose fines and other measures.
Lapointe said she feels vindicated.
“Being black, heavy and dressed plainly is not a threat or an offence. I deserve the same kind of respect and freedom as any other human being.”
Asked for a response Tuesday, Concordia spokesperson MaryJo Barr issued the following statement: “Concordia is an urban university and is proud to be open and accommodating. Our security personnel are well versed on how to engage with students and the public in order to ensure the university is secure, respectful and welcoming at all times.
“We vehemently disagree with the findings in this report, which does not include all of the relevant facts. While it’s not appropriate for us to share those details at this time, we will be challenging the Human Rights Commission’s proposal and the relevant facts will be brought forward through the judicial process.”
Calls by the Montreal Gazette to the CCC, the security firm named in the complaint, were not returned.
CRARR executive director Fo Niemi applauded the commission for its “new positive direction” and for “getting tough … on racial and social profiling.” He said this case will have significant ramifications for all post-secondary institutions, shopping malls and private security agencies in Quebec.
He pointed to a similar decision rendered in August wherein the commission recommended the Montreal police pay $45,000 in damages to a Concordia University student of Arabic background for racial and social profiling.
Everyone deserves respect even if they are homeless. They are human beings. First of all, they should be treated as human beings.