Lawyer urges $30K fine against Edmonton police if human rights tribunal finds discrimination in trans advocate's 911 case

Article content

Edmonton police should pay up to $30,000 in damages to compensate a trans woman repeatedly misgendered during a 911 call, a lawyer for the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal says.

The tribunal heard closing arguments Thursday in the case of Marni Panas, a trans advocate who called 911 asking police to check on her friend in April 2019.

Panas spoke to two 911 operators  — both of whom are retired EPS officers — who called her “sir,” including after being corrected. One of the evaluators, David Schening, incorrectly assumed Panas’s friend was a sex worker after Panas told him she was her “safety person” and that her friend was trans, opining: “well then they shouldn’t be in that profession now, should they?”

Article content

Schening also suggested Panas was being “overly sensitive” about being misgendered — a position he maintained while testifying Wednesday — and repeatedly referred to her as “buddy” — a term Schening admitted he was unlikely to use when addressing a cisgender woman.

Panas later filed a freedom of information request about the case and was addressed as “Mr.” and “sir” in correspondence.

The tribunal reserved its decision on whether Panas’s treatment breached the Alberta Human Rights Act.

‘Intention is irrelevant’

Adam Sopka, counsel for the director of the human rights commission, argued Panas faced discrimination on the basis of her gender identity, a protected ground under the act.

A former member of the EPS’s gender and sexual identity committee who consulted on EPS Chief Dale McFee’s 2019 apology to the LGBTQ community, Panas said her “whole world” changed when Schening suggested her friend was a sex worker.

“Her whole relationship with law enforcement changed in that moment,” Sopka said. “She felt her privilege was wiped out, and that by being a trans person on a date, she’d be assumed to be a sex worker.”

Article content

Article content

Sopka argued the fact neither 911 evaluator intended any disrespect was irrelevant. “Human rights case law is clear that intention is irrelevant to determining discrimination under the Alberta Human Rights Act,” he said.  

He also called into question EPS’s claim that appropriate steps had been taken to ensure others didn’t face similar discrimination — pointing to Schening’s own testimony.

“Mr. Schening still did not appreciate why misgendering a trans person could be traumatic, or why someone could be sensitive to that. He stated he had been called much worse on the streets and that in comparison, being called ‘sir’ seemed like child’s play of ‘kindergarten’ — again minimizing Ms. Panas’s experience and suggesting she was overly sensitive.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Sopka said if the tribunal finds Panas was discriminated against, general damages of $25,000 to $30,000 would be merited.

No denial of service: EPS

EPS lawyer Derek Cranna acknowledged some of the comments made to Panas were “inappropriate.”

However, he said Panas nevertheless got the service she needed in a timely manner.

Article content

“Fundamentally, the service that Ms. Panas requested — a policing response to her friend’s position — was provided in approximately 20 minutes,” he said. “I say this understanding very well that Ms. Panas had to go through difficult conversations. I don’t diminish that.” 

He said in the initial call, 911 operator Allan Davis apologized after calling Panas “sir” and used proper pronouns going forward. Both Davis and Schening spent decades working in a paramilitary environment where they were expected to use “sir” and “ma’am” as terms of respect, Cranna said.

“While it may not be appropriate to label someone as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ simply by the sound of their voice, both Mr. Davis and Mr. Schening did not intend any disrespect by doing so.”

Cranna also argued Schening’s assumption that Panas’s friend was a sex worker was based on her use of the terms “safety person” and “date” — not the fact she was transgender. He noted Schening was a longtime vice detective.

“Those were phrases he associated with sex work (based on) his policing experience,” Cranna said. “That association was wrong. But our position is he was wrong not because he had discriminatory views of trans women.”

Article content

Cranna also defended EPS’s steps to address the incident, including requiring Davis and Schening to meet with their supervisors and take bias awareness and inclusive language training. 

“The fact is that these examples of misgendering were inadvertent, and they were slips that members apologized for in the course of the phone calls that they occurred in,” Cranna said. 

The tribunal will deliver its decision in writing at a later date.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

x.com/jonnywakefield

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun

Article content