Citizens need right to appeal
The story of why Josslyn Mounsey and Thairu Taban lost their jobs at Metrolinx is as heartbreaking as it is unnecessary.
Mounsey, 30, a single mother of three, and Taban, 24, were both hired last May as transit safety dispatchers at the Metrolinx operations centre in Oakville. Mounsey’s job with the regional transportation agency was a14-month contract while Taban landed a “permanent” position.
They were both grateful for decent-paying work with benefits and a pension plan. And both knew they had made their Black immigrant parents proud.
Mounsey called having the job “liberating,” adding, “I felt like my life is going to begin now.” Taban wanted to show the kids in Flemingdon Park, where he grew up, that it’s possible to get a good job and build a good life. This turned out to be a tragic illusion. They both passed immediate criminal checks and started working, but a condition of being hired was undergoing a deeper Toronto Police Service (TPS) background check. Both failed that review.
Neither Mounsey nor Taban has a criminal record. Neither of them can find out why they failed. And neither can challenge the verdict, delivered as a cold pass or fail. Metrolinx, as the employer, is not even told why a candidate fails a background check.
Both Mounsey and Taban suspect family connections determined their fate, but they will never know. This is wrong.
Mounsey’s father was murdered when she was four but she has had no contact with his family since then. She also acted as a surety for an ex-boyfriend facing a drug offence. On her mother’s side of the family she has an uncle and cousin who are police officers in Durham Region.
Taban’s older brother has a “pretty serious” criminal record. Taban was often mistaken for his brother and stopped by police when living in Flemingdon Park. Taban rarely communicates with his brother.
Mounsey and Taban can only speculate that it’s these connections that cost them their jobs. The failure to disclose reasons for failing the check and the failure to allow an appeal is an abuse of power by the TPS — and the agencies that use it for background checks, which include the Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto Community Housing, and the University of Toronto.
Mounsey and Taban have hired a lawyer and launched a human rights complaint. They’re fighting for financial damages, for answers and, ultimately, to get their jobs back.
In 2019, TPS received 194 request for background checks from outside agencies and 93 per cent of them passed, the police service told the Star’s Jim Rankin. That appears to be high success rate, but it doesn’t justify the lack of transparency and ability to appeal.
If there is one bright spot to this tale of injustice, it’s that as of late last year, Metrolinx stopped using TPS for its deeper background checks. It now uses the Cobourg police force, which provides employers with explanations for recommending a failed check and, ultimately, it’s only a recommendation. The final decision remains with the employer, not the police force.
Typical of this story, no reason was given for the Metrolinx decision to stop using the TPS and switch to Cobourg police.
All agencies that are using TPS for background checks should follow the lead of Metrolinx — at least until the force becomes more transparent and accountable for its rulings.
Mounsey can’t help but feel that what happened to her and Taban are two more examples of obstacles facing Black youth today. Such policies as TPS’s severe pass/fail rulings are “shutting the door on the Black youth that are coming from Toronto, that are trying to better their lives,” Mounsey told the Star.
There’s hope the TPS background check policy will be targeted by the recently launched service-wide review of its employment practices, using an equity lens. It’s past time to fix this broken system.