A former RCMP officer ejected from a Vancouver Island pub for rolling pot to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been awarded a $10,000 human rights complaint settlement.
In her newly released B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decision, Amber Prince found Robin Hayes visited the Creekers Pub near his home in Port Alberni, part of the Ocean Marina Hotel, in May 2019.
There, Prince said, on Feb. 26 and May 6, 2019, Hayes was rolling cannabis cigarettes in the pub to smoke outside.
Hayes has a prescription for medical cannabis to treat his PTSD related to his years of work as an RCMP officer.
Hayes said the pub denied him a service and did not accommodate his needs as a person with PTSD. Prince agreed, saying the pub, its owner and manager discriminated against Hayes in the area of services based on mental disability.
On both occasions, manager Colby McMeekin told Hayes that he was not allowed to prepare cannabis in the pub and that he had to leave for doing so.
On May 6, 2019, McMeekin also told Hayes he was permanently barred from the pub for preparing cannabis.
On June 7, 2019, Hayes filed a complaint against McMeekin, Dean Johnson and Johnson’s company.
Those respondents said they did not eject and bar Hayes for preparing cannabis but because he was rude and belligerent.
Prince accepted Hayes’ evidence that he has PTSD and that it is recognized as a disability under the B.C. Human Rights Code.
The respondents claimed Hayes could have prepared his cannabis in advance or used a bathroom.
“I accept Mr. Hayes’ evidence that he prepares his medical cannabis in real time to meet his disability related needs,” Prince said. “As such, I accept that Mr. Hayes prepared his cannabis at the pub to meet his disability related needs.”
As such, Prince ruled: “I find that Mr. Hayes’ mental disability was a factor in the respondents’ ejecting and barring him from the pub.”
The respondents also claimed they did not allow rolling cannabis in the pub in order to maintain a safe environment. Prince said they had not made a connection between the two things.
“Mr. Hayes was stigmatized as doing something offensive, illicit, and wrong because he is prescribed and uses cannabis to treat his disability,” the tribunal said.
