Marni Panas, an LGBTQ2 advocate, is shown in an undated handout photo.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Edmonton Global Women of Vision, Marni Panas
An LGBTQ2 advocate who was discriminated against by 911 dispatchers has applied for a judicial review of a ruling by the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal.
Marni Panas, a transgender woman, filed a complaint in 2019 after she was misgendered three times by dispatchers when she called to ask for a welfare check on a friend.
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The tribunal found there was discrimination but that dispatchers didn’t mean to misgender Panas and dismissed the complaint.
An application for a judicial review says the tribunal erred in not holding the police employees liable.
A hearing date is to be scheduled with the Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton.
Panas says the case is a concern for equity-seeking groups who don’t feel safe calling for help.
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Lawyer Michael DeRosenroll, who is representing Panas, says the tribunal made a significant error in dismissing the complaint.
“It was an unreasonable legal conclusion to draw from the tribunal’s own findings of fact. So there is a strong basis for the court to overturn the decision on judicial review,” he said in a statement Thursday.
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