The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that the name of a respondent to a complaint involving New Westminster’s Starlight Casino will not be made public.

In a decision issued on Monday (December 6), tribunal member Tonie Beharrell determined that the respondent, referred to as W, will only be identified by that initial.

Tony Lai filed the complaint with the tribunal, naming as respondents Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Inc. (doing business as Starlight Casino), Bhupinder Brar, and W.

Lai alleges the respondents discriminated against him with respect to his employment on the basis of race and sex.

Section 13 of the Human Rights Code states that a person must not refuse to employ or discriminate against a person regarding employment based on race, ancestry, place of origin, political belief, religion, marital or family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, or age.

In this case, the respondents argued that Lai’s allegations could damage W’s reputation and embarrass him if they are made public.

Beharrell found that “W’s privacy interest outweighs the public interest in access to the Tribunal’s proceedings”.

She ruled that the tribunal will not publish W’s name or his security number.

The tribunal has yet to determine whether it will hear the complaint.