Saint John argues labour board should not hear discrimination suit City Solicitor says former policeman did not file his complaint with Human Rights Commission within a year of alleged violations

By MAC TRUMAN - Telegraph Journal

Less than two weeks before the labour board human rights hearing for which former police officer Keith Langford has been fighting for three years, Saint John City Hall is asking the Court of Queen's Bench to stop it. The city has filed an application asking the court to rule that the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board has no jurisdiction to hear Mr. Langford's allegation that his former co-workers and superiors discriminated against him because he is black.

In a court hearing set for May 28 in Saint John, the city will argue that Mr. Langford did not fulfil his obligation under the New Brunswick Human Rights Act by filing his complaint with the Human Rights Commission within one year of the dates when he alleges that the violations occurred. The Human Rights Commission did not extend the one-year time limit for Mr. Langford, says the court application filed by City Solicitor John Nugent, "with the result that the board of inquiry lacks jurisdiction to deal with the merits of the complaint." Mr. Nugent also points out in his application that at the time of Mr. Langford's alleged racial trouble, he was a member of the police union, whose labour agreement prohibited discrimination and laid out "a comprehensive grievance and arbitration scheme" for dealing with it.

The "exclusive jurisdiction to deal with the claims of discrimination by the respondent Langford lay within the grievance and arbitration process," he argues.

The city, at a Court of Queen's Bench hearing set for May 28, is asking the court to stop the labour board from going ahead with Mr. Langford's hearing, which is scheduled for the weeks of May 31 to June 4, and June 21 to 25.

As an alternative, the city is asking the court to direct the board to rule on its own jurisdiction before hearing Mr. Langford's charges.

Until the court reaches its own ruling, the city wants it to impose a stay of proceedings on the board hearing.

Mr. Langford, an 18-year veteran with the Saint John Police Force, filed his Human Rights Commission complaint in November, 1996, alleging that the trouble began shortly after he began his police career in 1979. He said other officers used racial slurs like "spook" and "nigger." He accused former police chief David Sherwood of trying to fire him because he is black.

Courtesy of Saint John Telegraph Journal
Thursday May 20,1999

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