BC Human Rights Tribunal Dismisses FLDS Couple's Discrimination Complaint

Canadian Press on Wednesday reported on a decision handed down last month by the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal in Palmer v. British Columbia Teachers' Federation, (BCHRT, Aug. 15, 2008). The Tribunal dismissed a complaint by a polygamous couple who are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints who alleged the Teachers' Federation discriminated against them on the basis of religion and marital status when it sent a letter to the Premier, issued a press release and circulated a petition urging the provincial government to act against alleged sexual exploitation in the FLDS community in the town of Bountiful and alleged discriminatory teaching in the community's independent schools. The Tribunal concluded that the Federation's "purpose in creating the letter to the Premier, the newsletter, and the petition was not to discriminate against the Palmers or anyone else."