Executive's years of ethnic, religious slurs led to constructive dismissal
A British Columbia human rights tribunal has found that a company's chief executive subjected an employee to years of derogatory remarks about his ethnicity and religion, then stripped him of his job duties, amounting to a discriminatory constructive dismissal.
In a decision issued Aug. 12, 2026, tribunal member Shannon Beckett found that Freshslice Holdings Ltd. and its chief executive officer discriminated against a marketing manager based on his race, colour and religion, ordering the company to pay $45,000 in lost wages and $40,000 for injury to his dignity, feelings and self-respect.
A pattern of derogatory comments
The worker, an Iranian-Canadian marketing manager who practices Islam, testified that over eight years with the company, its chief executive regularly disparaged Iranian and Muslim people in the workplace lunchroom, at one point describing Iranians as "third world people" with a "third world mindset."
A former colleague also testified that he witnessed the chief executive mock Persian and Muslim colleagues on multiple occasions, including comments about the Prophet Muhammad. The company's human resources manager said he never personally heard such remarks, but the tribunal member found his testimony inconsistent and gave it little weight on the issue.
He initially denied making any negative comments, then acknowledged during cross-examination that he had made some remarks about Iranian people, before eventually admitting, after hearing a recording of a meeting with the worker, that he had made a specific comment directed at him. Beckett found his evidence self-serving and not credible, and preferred the accounts of the worker and his former colleague.
Confrontation over a performance review
The dispute came to a head after the worker received a low score on a new performance evaluation system, resulting in a bronze rating tied to factors such as attending charity events and displaying the company's logo on his personal vehicle. When he raised concerns about the score with the chief executive in a meeting he secretly recorded, the executive told him, "these are third shit world mentalities, they have no place in Canada."
Shortly after the meeting, the chief executive directed the worker to permanently transfer the vast majority of his marketing duties to another employee, a change the worker said left him with little meaningful work to perform. The tribunal member found the reassignment was a unilateral alteration to his job that followed almost immediately after he challenged his evaluation.
Freshslice and its chief executive argued the worker had exaggerated the impact of the comments and suggested the reassignment was unrelated to his background, pointing to company growth as a possible explanation. Beckett rejected that explanation as speculation, finding no persuasive non-discriminatory reason had been offered for the timing of the change.
Damages and dismissal findings
Beckett concluded the chief executive's comments, his conduct during the meeting, and the reassignment of duties were connected to the worker's identity as an Iranian Muslim man and together amounted to a discriminatory constructive dismissal. The worker resigned after eight years with the company, citing a toxic workplace.
The company was ordered to pay $45,000 in lost wages, covering the nine months between the worker's resignation and when he found new full-time employment, along with $40,000 for injury to his dignity, feelings and self-respect. The tribunal member noted the discrimination was serious and protracted, occurring over several years and culminating in the loss of his job.
Beckett declined to award the $8,000 bonus the worker had sought, finding his performance evaluation was not connected to discrimination, and rejected the company's request for a costs order against him. The company and chief executive were found jointly and severally liable for the amounts awarded.
See Rabiei v. Freshslice Holdings Ltd. and another, 2026 BCHRT 180
