B.C.’s Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint from a teacher who claims he was fired for YouTube comments about religions, women, gender, abortion, sexual assault and homosexuality.
Tribunal member Theresa Etmanski had to decide if Gleb Glebov’s constitutional religious freedom would be compromised if he were not allowed to publicly share his views about those subjects.
Glebov had filed the complaint after being dismissed as a math instructor at Fraser International College (FIC). He claimed the college discriminated against him in employment on the basis of religion, contrary to B.C.’s Human Rights Code.
Glebov alleged FIC terminated his employment because of videos posted on YouTube of him preaching his Christian views.
“I find Mr. Glebov has no reasonable prospect of proving that he has a sincerely held religious belief or practice that requires him to publicly share his views on the subjects at issue,” Etmanski said in her Jan. 26 decision.
The decision said Glebov was an instructor at FIC from 2017 to December 2019.
Prior to each academic semester, Glebov and FIC entered into an employment agreement, part of which included a provision of a “staff pack.”
Under the heading, harassment in the workplace, the pack said, “FIC expects you to behave in a manner that will not intimidate or be offensive to the community. Harassment can be defined as any unwelcome or offensive comment or action concerning race, colour, marital status, language, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, sex, age, pregnancy, disability, political or religious conviction.”
Complaint to school
In November 2019, a student sent FIC’s principal links to Glebov’s YouTube videos.
Etmanski said those videos included Glebov saying:
• laws putting women who have, and doctors who perform, abortions to death should be passed;
• women allege rape to justify abortion, but most of the time it is consensual and they make it up;
• women are raped because of bad parenting; and
• if women got married they would not be raped.
• homosexuality is against nature;
• homosexuality and transgender is “garbage”;
• people who think they are a different gender than their sex should be put in an asylum and treated.
• Sikhism, Sunni Islam, Catholicism, and Kabbalah are false religions;
• when Muslims and Sikhs come to Canada their religion becomes more fashion than religion;
• Muslims who do not convert will meet the anti-Christ; and,
• other gods like Ra, Allah, Krishna are the anti-Christ or Satan.
Termination
On Dec. 9, 2019, Glebov met with the school director who told him the video comments went against school polices, and that his teaching duties would finish that day.
Glebov said the videos had no connection to his employment with FIC. He said FIC arbitrarily broadened the scope of the term “workplace” to videos posted in his personal capacity.
Glebov said the director arbitrarily characterized his views as hateful and offensive, without providing any basis for the subjective criteria it applied.
While Glebov claimed religious discrimination, FIC told the tribunal that Glebov would not be able to establish that his YouTube conduct arose from a sincerely held practice or belief that has a direct connection with religion.
“I agree,” Etmanski said. “ I find that Mr. Glebov has not taken out of the realm of conjecture that he sincerely believes he must publicly disseminate the views set out above as part of his Christian faith.”
She said he would have to prove how posting YouTube videos of his views are connected with his religion and required by it.
Glebov said he expressed his opinions within the context of a sermon, and “he expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”
However, said Etmanski, “Glebov has not provided any basis for saying that publicly disseminating his views is related to the tenets of his faith or that his ability to practice his religion would be compromised if he were unable to do so.”
Added Etmanski, Glebov provided no “evidence that he had a religious duty to spread his views, or that he manifests his religious beliefs through activism.”
