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| Great White North |
| Canadian detective's prank spurs human rights complaint |
| 2009-01-31 |
| It was supposed to be a prank. But coming on the day after 9/11, it was one he would regret profoundly. Posing as an anonymous tipster, homicide Det. Keith Bradshaw called a police buddy and in his best Arabic accent left a chilling message on his voice mail. One of their colleagues, he said, was taking secret flying lessons, intended to knock down the Twin Towers and was an Islamic militant. The butt of the joke-gone-bad, forensics employee Abdullah Yousufi, complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. A tribunal hearing starts Monday. "This was over years ago," Bradshaw's lawyer, Gary Clewley, said yesterday. "He owned up to it, he apologized, he was disciplined. What the hell does (Yousufi) want? It seems gratuitous to me." Yousufi, a long-time civilian employee of Toronto police, has filed two complaints with the commission, documents show, the first in May 2002. Besides the prank, Yousufi alleges harassment and a poisoned work environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith." In April 2004 Yousufi complained again to the commission, this time about the "negative workplace consequences" of filing the first complaint. He alleges he was denied training and his employer used the Civilian Review Process to mask an attempt to demote him. Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living." After Bradshaw left the message on Sept. 12, 2001, Internal Affairs launched an investigation, putting Yousufi under surveillance. Bradshaw confessed to the prank, Clewley said. He was disciplined by having several hours of pay docked. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 The article is from the Toronto Star, also known as The Red Star, so base any conclusions on that. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2009-01-31 19:31 |
| #2 "environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith." So, is he NOT of the Muslim faith? If his charges are valid, I sympathize. However, it is hard to tell from the info given in the article. |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-01-31 12:46 |
| #1 great writing. Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living." so he actually did comment. He did leave off the part where he feels a hostile work environment because he's a thin-skinned prick, IMNSHO - The guy played a joke and paid for it. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-01-31 10:21 |