Posted on 08/16/2007 9:53:10 AM PDT by Alouette
A blind Vancouver man who was shunned by a taxi driver who didn't want a guide dog in his cab has reached a $2,500 settlement with North Shore Taxi.
Bruce Gilmour, 49, had called a cab from a West Vancouver coffee shop after a day of skiing in November 2006.
But North Shore Taxi driver Behzad Saidy, a Muslim, refused to transport Gilmour and his golden retriever Arden, saying his religion prevents him from associating with dogs. Gilmour, who has been blind for 30 years, filed a human rights complaint, alleging discrimination. "I'm tired of defending my dignity," he said Wednesday.
Last Friday - three days before a B.C. human rights tribunal hearing - Gilmour reached a settlement with the taxi company.
The agreement, issued by the tribunal, attempts to balance the rights of blind people with guide dogs to obtain taxi service with the rights of Muslim cab drivers to follow their personal beliefs.
Gilmour said he will donate part of the monetary settlement to the Az-zahraa Islamic Centre in Richmond after receiving help from Imam Syed Jaffir, and to B.C. Guide Dog Services. They will likely get $500 to $700 each, he said.
Under the terms of the settlement, North Shore Taxi was ordered to immediately establish a policy forbidding any driver to refuse a fare from a blind person accompanied by a certified guide dog.
The only exceptions are for drivers allergic to dogs and those who satisfy the company that they have an honest religious belief that precludes them from transporting certified guide dogs.
However, such drivers must call dispatch for the next available cab, give their name to the blind person and remain with the person until the next cab arrives.
Anyone who breaches the policy will be suspended for two shifts for a first offence and be subject to termination for a second offence.
Blind people will not be required to inform dispatch of their disability.
"It's a landmark in my life," Gilmour said. "This is not binding with any other cab company, but if a person in White Rock or Coquitlam winds up in the same situation, my case will now raise the bar."
William Thornton, chief executive of B.C. Guide Dog Services, said Gilmour's experience was "all too common." There are about 150 guide dogs in B.C.
Gilmour, who uses taxis regularly, said he's been fighting such discrimination since 1985, when he got his first guide dog.
He said he's argued with cabbies who have refused to allow the dog in their cars and has been passed up by taxis as he waits on the curb. He and his guide dog rarely encounter problems with other types of public transportation, he said.
"I'm humiliated and frustrated and it's an awkward position having to go into defending your rights because you're blind," Gilmour said.
North Shore Taxi officials could not be reached Wednesday.
But Saidy, the cab driver, claims he also suffered discrimination because he was told by a citizenship judge 15 years ago that he could practise his religion and culture.
He said that as a Muslim, he cannot associate with dogs because they are considered impure.
Saidy said he often walks disabled people to their door or helps them into cabs and, in Gilmour's case, he called the dispatcher to order another cab to collect him and Arden.
"I felt for [Gilmour]. I'm sorry for him but I'll never be sorry for what I did because I try to help people all the time," he said.
"I have lots of customers who are blind or disabled...but I can't be close to the dog.
"In my own company they say if you don't take the dog you're going to be fired. This is torture for me." Saidy said he agreed to the settlement because his religion was finally respected and he was exempt from picking up guide dogs. But, he adds, he's not optimistic that's going to happen.
"I don't trust anymore," he said.
Believe me, if the bacon thing you described ever happened in a cab in Minneapolis, it would be front page news in both papers. For weeks.
I found this on “ask the imam”. There is always a problem that there are so many imams issuing so many rulings, that nothing in Islam, which is a religion of rules, ever seems to be fixed. Just look at the way women are dressed in different Muslim cultures.
My impression was always that dogs for work are ok, while dogs are not ok for pets. But you will find plenty of muslims that will torture dogs or not use them for work.
Anyway, here it is:
All creatures are the creation of Allah Taãla and do deserve the recognition of being a creation of the Almighty. As much as Muslims detest even the
sight of pigs - it is the creation of Allah Taãla - and because Allah has placed life into it, we cannot inflict pain nor torture the pig.
Similarly Allah Taãla created the dog from among His creation. This does not mean that we should love the dog. It is perhaps the indoctrination of the Western culture that ‘The dog is Man’s best Friend’. The theory that ‘dogs
are very dependent on Human affection’ is a myth - again culture and custom has helped to develop this unnatural behaviour.
Allah Taãla the Creator of this Universe - having created the dog would surely have known that the dog requires Human affection and love to exist in this world. Rasulullah (Sallallaaahu Álayhi Wasallam) would have advised us,
Muslims, to keep dogs as pets. On the contrary, we are instructed not to keep dogs as pets and ‘love’ them as exemplified by the non-Muslims. Remember our life is structured and bound by the Shariah i.e. The Noble
Qurãn and the beautiful example of Rasulullah (Sallallaaahu Álayhi Wasallam). Consider these Ahaadith:
Hadhrat Abu Talha reports that Rasulullah (Sallallaaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, “Angels do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or an animate picture.”
Hadhrat Ibn Abbas reports that once Rasulullah became sad; and said that Jibra’eel promised to meet him at
night but did not turn up. “By Allah what has kept him back,” said the Prophet. Then he realised a puppy was under his bed. He ordered that the puppy be removed and the area be sprinkled with water. In the afternoon when Jibra’eel came, Rasulullah enquired as to the delay. Jibra’eel said that we, the group of Angels do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or pictures.
In the light of these Ahaadith and other narrations it is not permissible to keep dogs as pets. The household is deprived of the Mercy of Allah Taãla.
However, Jurists have stated that it is permissible to keep a dog for security purposes, farming and hunting.
The saliva of a dog is Najis (impure). if it touches the clothes or body, that portion also becomes impure and must be washed.
Frankly, I think any religion where God cannot bless you if you own a dog is illogical and barbaric.
Behzad Saidy, or anyone who has similiar views, should not be driving a taxi. Period. Find another job.
The only exceptions are for drivers allergic to dogs and those who satisfy the company that they have an honest religious belief that precludes them from transporting certified guide dogs.
Cool cats, these exempt guys, I guess.
Urban legend then, but I can’t believe it hasn’t happened a few times.
**************
No kidding.
“As Good as it Gets”
But she went deaf when they cut off her legs.
When it does, you’ll read all about it, right here.
;-)
They paid him in Monopoly money. He’ll never know!
“I dont know, but I heard that up in Minneapolis when a Muslim cabbie is being rude they are leaving bacon strips tucked in the back seat to stink the car up. I dont condone such actions, but I can see people getting sick of putting up with their BS too.”
People are carrying around bacon strips jutst in case a cabbie is rude? No thanks.
Cabs should be cabs, no exception!
Conclusive proof that there are no Muslims in Heaven
They usually ask, "May I help you?" , and I respond .. "Yes ... would you please put my children through college?"
This has been a pleasant game for both me and the clerk ... we smile .. I sometimes flirt ... but sometimes I detect a serious manner and I'll come back with, "When you're in the public and you ask a question ... be prepared ... you might get an answer."
I relate this because ... these inconsiderate 'people' .. Muslims .. seem to think they are the choreographers of life and they can write or re-write the roles of the players.
When you ask for, and get a job ... you're subject to the rules of courtesy to the people you deal with .. no matter what your 'religion' is.
I know many Christians that have forfeited good positions or even jobs because of their refusal to work on Sundays.
These Muslims need to know and be put in their place ... end of conversation.
I don't see any justification for these exceptions. No one has the right to demand continuing employment in a position which they are unwilling or unable to do. A cab drivers' job by definition involves picking up anyone who hails them, anyone standing next in line at a cab stand, or anyone his dispatched dispatches him to. It is a serious imposition on a blind person to make them wait for another cab. Their ability to get around and attend to their daily responsibilities is already impaired by their disability. I really wish somebody would put this to the test with another religion, to demonstrate that the principle doesn't hold water. Where do we find an Orthodox Jew willing to take a job as a cab driver in British Columbia and then refuse to transport any customers of the opposite sex?
And the allergy excuse? Find someone who's severely allergic to peanuts who will refuse to transport people who have anything with them that contains peanuts or peanut oil, or whose breath gives off a whiff of recently consumed food containing peanuts? Little old lady needs a cab ride home from the grocery store with her week's supply of groceries? Oops, a few of those things contain peanuts, so she'll just have to lean on her walker for another 15 minutes until a replacement cab arrives.
Whatever happened to common sense?
"What, Rosa Parks couldn't wait for the next bus?"
Hardly sounds reasonable to me.
So basically this blind guy got a little pocket change, but nothing else has changed - a Muslim with the taxi company can still refuse to give the blind guy and his dog a ride. Yeah, dude, you really raised the bar!
So if I get a job with them as a Taxi driver, does that mean I can refuse to transport homosexuals because it violates my sincerely held religious beliefs?
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