Fired transgender teacher to go before human rights tribunal

A judge says a discrimination complaint filed by atransgender teacher who was fired from a Catholic school districtfor religious reasons should be heard by an Alberta human rightstribunal.

Jan Buterman was removed from the Greater St. Albert SchoolDivision's teacher list in 2008 because his sex change was not inline with Catholic values.

He filed a complaint the following year, which the schooldistrict successfully challenged before the province's human rightscommission.

That decision was overturned by the chief of the commission,which prompted the school district to seek a judicial review.

Justice Sheila Greckol of Court of Queen's Bench dismissed thedistrict's request in a written ruling obtained Friday by TheCanadian Press.

She said it is time for a commission tribunal to hear Buterman'scomplaint.

"Five years have passed since the school board terminated Mr.Buterman. The voluminous and continual retreading of arguments atthe commission, as well as this application for early judicialintervention on thin grounds, has served only to delay the hearingon the merits," Greckol wrote.

"Human rights process is not only for the lion-hearted andwell-heeled conversant with litigation, but also for the timorousand impecunious for all Albertans.

"The expeditious resolution of complaints becomes an issue ofaccess to justice; justice delayed is justice denied."

Buterman pleased with ruling

Buterman, who is working on his master's in education policystudies at the University of Alberta, said he was delighted withGreckol's ruling.

He said it is still possible the school district could appeal. And even if the case proceeds to the tribunal, it could be long anddrawn out.

He acknowledged there is no guarantee that he will win.

"It has been five years and sometimes it has been very hard tocope," he said. "It is of deep concern to me to be faced with asituation where there are entities that can ignore rights that weall have."

Cathy Finlayson, registrar at the Alberta Human RightsCommission, said Greckol's ruling has been reviewed and a date willbe set in the coming weeks to hear the case.

"In accordance with Justice Greckol's decision, this matter willproceed to a tribunal," Finlayson said.

"The tribunal will be in touch with the parties to see when thefirst available date is."

She declined further comment on the details of the ruling.

David Keohane, superintendent of the school district, saidofficials were reviewing the ruling to determine whether to appeal.

"There is no decision on that (appeal) right now," Keohanesaid. "The decision has just come out.

"But the spirit of our response is we are a participant in aprocess and we are going to continue to work through that processuntil it comes to its conclusion."

"One's gender is considered whatGod created us to be."

In 2011, Buterman turned down a $78,000 cash settlement offerfrom the publicly funded school district because it would haverequired him to keep quiet and drop his human rights complaint.

He said he was fired in 2008 despite receiving a letter from thedistrict praising his teaching abilities.

According to the facts listed in Greckol's ruling, a boardofficial wrote Buterman another letter when the district learned hewas changing from a woman to a man.

"The teaching of the Catholic Church is that persons cannotchange their gender," read the letter the deputy superintendent Steve Bayus wrote after conferring with the Archbishop of theCatholic Archdiocese of Edmonton.

"One's gender is considered whatGod created us to be."

The letter went on to say that the school division was bound bythe teachings of the church and that it intentionally hired teacherswho were models of those teachings.

Bayus wrote that Buterman's sex change was not aligned with theteachings of the church and would create confusion with students andparents.