A B.C. Human Rights Tribunal member has dismissed a woman's complaint that a First Nations-run convenience store discriminated against her on the basis of colour and race.
Stella Dinsmore filed the claim after her hourly wage was reduced and she was overlooked for management-level positions at the Slenyah Store, located on the Stellat'en reserve near Fraser Lake.
With the exception of one year when she went to Malaysia to look after her ill mother, Dinsmore had worked at the store since October 2009.
In late 2012, she took over the assistant manager position on a temporary basis while the store manager was on sick leave and the assistant manager filled the higher position.
She was returned to her old role of cashier and gas jockey once the manager was back, but in July 2013 the manager took education leave and the assistant manager was promoted to manager while the bookkeeper was named the financial manager.
With two people in management positions, band manager Sandra Nahornoff decided there was no need for an assistant manager. That did not sit well with Dinsmore.
Moreover, she saw her hourly wage reduced to $13 from $15 per hour and to reduce costs, Nahornoff instructed the manager to cut staff hours and work with the band's finance department to get the store's finances under control.
Also, in spring 2013, the process of incorporating the store and having it operate at arms length from the band began. By March 2014, the process was completed but for one step: Staff was laid off and encouraged to apply for positions under the new ownership.
Dinsmore applied to be the store's manager but the position was awarded to a First Nations person, although not a member of the Stellat'en band. And when that person quit the job later that summer, Dinsmore was once again overlooked.
But in response, the BCHRT was told Dinsmore's wage was reduced only after the finance manager had first increase her wage without proper authorization. Nahornoff found the raise was too costly for the store, but substituted more modest increases over the following months.
During that time, the position of assistant store manager was posted for hiring but cancelled five days later due to a lack of funds.
After the store was incorporated, the search for a manager drew four candidates and while Dinsmore had some experience as an assistant manager, the person hired had previously managed the store, converting it from a money loser to a profitable venture in the process.
The next person hired after the first one left was ranked second by the hiring committee during the original search for a manager. That person's origins were not stated in the decision issued by BCHRT member Vladimir Pylypchuk but he did note Nahornoff is Caucasian.
Pylypchuk agreed Dinsmore suffered an "adverse consequence" as a result of the events - she was not promoted to assistant manager, had a pay increase rolled back, was terminated from her position and did not get the store manager's position in the aftermath.
But he found Dinsmore's support of her allegation was threadbare, saying she had not provided any information apart from her belief. Conversely, while he recognized that "employers do not always advertise their discriminatory conduct or discriminatory mindset," Pylypchuk said the respondents provided significant documentation to support their position.
As such, Pylypchuk found Dinsmore had no reasonable prospect of establishing that race or colour was a factor and so, ruled that the case will not go to a hearing. The decision was issued Nov. 9.
