Mission man fired for mocking senior’s death in racist Facebook post

A Mission man has been fired for writing a Facebook post that mocked the death of a Sikh man at Abbotsford’s Canada Day parade.

Sohan Singh Sidhu, 65, died Sunday when he fell out of the back of a Dodge Ram pickup truck and was run over by the Indo-Canadian Seniors Society trailer the truck was towing.

In a widely shared post on social media, Dillon Mazzei, who described himself as a hard-working dad in his Facebook bio, used laughing emojis and racial slurs while sharing a news story about Sidhu’s death.

“To (sic) bad more of them didn’t fallout (sic),” Mazzei wrote.

His now-deleted Facebook profile listed his occupation as a forklift driver for Abbotsford’s TerraLink Horticulture.

On Tuesday, TerraLink disavowed Mazzei’s comments and terminated his employment.

“TerraLink is strongly opposed to the racist and hateful comments expressed yesterday on Facebook. The individual does not represent our company and did this on his own initiative without our knowledge,” said Stan Loewen, president and CEO of TerraLink Horticulture Inc.

“Given the nature of the comments, we particularly wish to inform the Indo-Canadian community that we are supportive of them. We stand with the Indo-Canadian community who are our friends and business colleagues.

“Together, we mourn the loss of Sohan Singh Sidhu who tragically died in the accident following the Canada Day parade.”