Pubdate: Sat, 30 Aug 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kelly Sinoski
Page: A15

MEDICINAL POT SMOKER LOSES DISCRIMINATION CASE, WINS CASH

Steele said while he smokes pot to relieve pain from a car crash, he
has never lit up indoors.

A Vancouver man evicted from his West Broadway apartment has failed to
convince the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal his landlord discriminated
against him because he used marijuana for pain relief.

Taylor Steele, 33, had filed a complaint against landlord Aishwarya
Investments Ltd. and property manager Kerry Grant, alleging
discrimination in tenancy based on a physical disability.

The complaint arose after Steele was given an eviction notice after
several other tenants complained he was allegedly smoking marijuana in
his apartment when he was not allowed to do so.

Steele said while he smokes pot to relieve pain from a car crash, he
has never lit up indoors. But tribunal member Norman Trerise dismissed
his claims, noting both Steele and his wife had testified they used
odour sprays in the home, while the neighbours' testimonies were
compelling and believable.

"I have considerable difficulty accepting that, where the other
tenants of the building were sufficiently bothered by the level of
smoke and marijuana odour that it was clearly a matter of considerable
discussion between them and where one of the tenants felt the need to
post a sign in the ladies washroom discouraging smoking in the
building, that the marijuana odour and smoke emanated solely from
smoking outside the building."

However, the tribunal upheld a secondary complaint against the
landlord that forbids retaliation against someone else for lodging a
complaint and ordered that Aishwarya pay Steele $ 2,500.

Grant was also ordered to pay Steele $ 1,000. The tribunal found "it
is clear that he was, if not the guiding mind behind commencing the
litigation, at least the recommending proponent and implementer for
that action."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt