A Lankan kitchen boss who claims he was fired from Boston Pizza in Richmond, Canadalast month for not speaking English well enough has filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
Ramesh Thangarajah, a 35-year-old immigrant from Sri Lanka, has also hired a lawyer and plans to sue Boston Pizza for wrongful dismissal.
“My client is intending to pursue a wrongful dismissal claim and a Human Rights complaint against his employer to recover severance and damages for injury to his dignity, feelings and self-respect,” says David Dahlgren of the law firm Lang Michener.
Thangarajah claims he was not only fired, but that Boston Pizza has been pressuring him to sign away his right to sue by offering to double his severance pay, and by withholding his employment records until he signs a release that would indemnify his employer from any legal action.
Thangarajah said he worked for Boston Pizza on Ackroyd Road at No. 3 Road for a year and a half and was the restaurant’s kitchen manager.
He worked seven days a week, he said, and did not take all of the holidays he had coming to him. So he was shocked when he was told Aug. 14 he was being let go because his English was not good enough — something he found surprising, since the kitchen staff he works with are largely immigrants themselves.
“He said you’re fired,” Thangarajah told the News. “I asked why. He said, “you’re English is not great.’”
“That’s totally inaccurate. I have no comment about that,” Mark Pribula, Boston Pizza’s director of operations for Western Canada, told the News.
“He was released for no cause and paid severance.”
In fact, Thangarajah claims a month has now passed and he has not yet received his severance pay. Nor has he received his record of employment, which he needs if he plans to apply for unemployment insurance.
When he challenged his employer, Thangarajah said Boston Pizza made him a new offer: They would bump his two weeks of severance up to four, which amounts to $3,230. They would also provide one week of vacation pay.
But the offer came with conditions. He would have to agree not to sue for wrongful dismissal or launch a human rights complaint. He would also have to keep the deal confidential.
The release he was asked to sign contains some convoluted language.
“The employee acknowledges that the facts in respect of which this release is made may prove to be other than or different from the facts in that connection now known or believed by the employee to be true,” says a copy of the release provided to the News.
Thangarajah said he has no idea what that means and has refused to sign the release and he claims Boston Pizza has been withholding both his severance pay and his record of employment. According to Service Canada, an employer is obliged to provide a record of employment within five business days of firing or laying off an employee.
Thangarajah said he refused Boston Pizza’s offer because money isn’t the issue.
“I’m not fighting for the money,” he said. “I’m fighting for the principle. What they done is wrong.”
Jordon Holm, vice-president of corporate communications and investor relations for Boston Pizza, told the News he could not respond to Thangarajah’s allegations.
“I’m not going to comment specifically on any employee issues because there are privacy issues involved and — at this time now — legal issues,” Holm said. “At this stage it’s, of course, up to the lawyers.”
Generally speaking, though, he said Boston Pizza has a good track record with respect to hiring immigrants. Between 2005 and 2007, when Canadawas facing a labour shortage, the company launched a foreign worker program, hiring immigrants across the country.
“Boston Pizza, over the last few years, has been a leader in what we call the foreign workers program,” Holm said. “I don’t think Boston Pizza would be where we are — as a successful employer, a successful restaurant — by having anything but the best policies and procedures in dealing with our employees across the country.”
Firing someone without cause — as Boston Pizza claims Thangarajah was — is permitted under the B.C. Employment Standards Act. Employers do not need to give a reason for firing someone. They only need to provide severance pay, based on length of employment, up to six weeks.
But if, as Thangarajah claims, he was fired because of his language skills, it could fall under B.C. human rights legislation.
The B.C. Human Rights Code provides protection against discrimination based on race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political belief and religion.
It’s not clear if a lack of English language skills would be included within the section of the act dealing with employment discrimination based on race.
Thangarajah said, as kitchen manager, he was responsible for kitchen staff and also recently stood in for the floor manager — something he does not feel management would have allowed if his English was so poor. A BC Human Rights Tribunal spokesperson could not tell the News if language is covered under the act, saying that is the type of thing the tribunal is tasked with determining.
Richmond News
RAMESH IS VERY NICE PERSON. I TOOK TRAINING UNDER HIS SUPERVISION FOR 3 WEEKS IN KITCHEN. WE ALWAYS COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH.ALL OTHER STAFF WAS ALSO COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH WITH HIM.I DO NOT THINK HE WOULD HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO WORK AS KM IF HIS ENGLISH WAS NOT GOOD.
thank you terry