A Nanaimo fabric store that denied entry to a maskless customer in the first year of the pandemic did not discriminate against her, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal determined.

This spring, the tribunal dismissed a case brought forward by a customer who alleged Fabricland Nanaimo discriminated against her based on her disability after she wasn鈥檛 allowed to shop there without a mask in October 2020.

The unnamed complainant was dropped off at the store by her husband, but a security guard said she couldn鈥檛 enter the store without a mask.

According to the tribunal鈥檚 decision, the customer has a prosthetic eye and describes herself as legally blind, and said 鈥渢he placement of the mask under her eyes 鈥� led to rubbing and touching of her eye鈥� which caused infection that required treatment with eye drops.

The customer said she felt 鈥渆mbarrassed and humiliated鈥� when she was told that she was not allowed inside the store and she described crying, feeling devastated, and entering a 鈥渄ark hole,鈥� as sewing makes her happy and relieves stress.

Fabricland testified that it offered two other ways of shopping, a curbside pickup program and online delivery, that were specifically created for the purpose of accommodating people who were unable or unwilling to wear a mask. The store鈥檚 manager told the customer鈥檚 husband about those options at the time of the incident.

The customer argued that Fabricland took a 鈥渟trong stance鈥� to exclude people before the province had introduced mask mandates, which were enacted in November 2020, and expressed that in her opinion, a mask policy 鈥渨as not necessary to achieve [the store鈥檚] health and safety goals.鈥�

Kathleen Smith, the tribunal member who oversaw the case, noted in her decision that the customer did not advise the staff of any medical reason for not wearing a mask at the time of the incident. The store made an effort to accommodate the customer, she determined, and so there was no evidence of discrimination.

bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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