Human rights complaint from maskless grocery shopper dismissed

The BC Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint from a grocery shopper who alleges Loblaw Inc. discriminated against him when he went shopping without a mask.

The complainant, Martin May, visited a BC Loblaw store in October 2020 and alleged he was yelled at in front of a crowd to wear a mask.

BC had not yet implemented its mask mandate, but the province was in a state of emergency and the retailer had its own mandatory mask policy.

Tribunal member Emily Ohler, who wrote the decision, noted that May alleged he had COPD (which Ohler understood to be chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and could not wear a mask.

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However, Loblaw said May did not inform staff of the condition. Furthermore, May did not give information about who allegedly yelled at him — Ohler could not establish whether it was a store employee or a member of the public.

“Even if I accept that the complainant has a physical disability, the information before
me would not be enough to establish that he experienced an adverse impact in relation to a
service,” Ohler wrote. “He has not explained how he was prevented from accessing the store, or who it was that yelled at him.”

On top of that, May did not provide evidence that his disability prevented him from wearing a mask.

In the end, Ohler said May’s complaint did not move beyond the realm of “speculation and conjecture” and she dismissed it.