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A BC beauty salon has been ordered to pay $15,000 to a deaf beautician after the BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled the salon discriminated against the beautician in a job interview even though she wouldn't have been given the position anyway.

According to an April 8 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision, deaf beautician Yassaman Shahbakhshi responded to a position for a laser technician position at Pure Luxe Aesthetics in early 2020 and in an email told the owner, Julia Melo, she was deaf.

"Shahbakhshi says jobs at spas and beauty salons or clinics are good for deaf people because they generally do not require much verbal communication with clients," the decision read. 

An interview was set up, and a sign language interpreter was scheduled to accompany Shahbakhshi during the interview.

Shahbakhshi and Pure Luxe Aesthetics owner Julia Melo have different versions of what took place.

The decision said when Shahbakhshi arrived at the Vancouver salon the sign language interpreter was already there.

Melo said she wouldn't be able to hire Shahbakhshi because she was deaf and she wouldn't be able to communicate with clients.

The decision said Shahbakhshi tried to explain that she could communicate with clients using text messages and body language but Melo wasn't open to the suggestion.

"Shahbakhshi describes Ms. Melo’s body language at the interview as cold and 'frozen to me,'" the decision read.

When she realized she wouldn't get the job, she walked out.

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Melo had a different version of events.

In the decision, she said she knew Shahbakhshi was deaf, but didn't realize she needed an interpreter.

She asked the interpreter "How would this work?"

"Ms. Melo says she believed there was technology available that would allow Ms. Shahbakhshi to communicate with clients, but she was concerned that Ms. Shahbakhshi might need an interpreter at all times, and she wanted to know how she could accommodate Ms. Shahbakhshi," the decision read.

The interpreter then had a sign language conversation with Shahbakhshi which Melo couldn't understand.

During the conversation, Shahbakhshi became visibly upset and then walked out slamming the door.

The whole interaction lasted about one minute.

Weeks later the COVID-19 pandemic began and Melo had to close and never hired anyone when she reopened.

Sometime afterwards, Shahbakhshi filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, which years later went to a hearing.

"Despite the differences between their accounts of what happened, all three witnesses were firm in their recollection of the job interview," the Tribunal ruled.

However, the Tribunal preferred Shahbakhshi's testimony and evidence over the salon owners.

The Tribunal found that Melo didn't realize Shahbakhshi was deaf and when she arrived immediately said she couldn't hire her because she couldn't communicate with clients.

The Tribunal ruled Melo was not willing to consider Shahbakhshi’s explanations about how it could work and discriminated against her because she's deaf.

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Shahbakhshi argued for compensation for lost wages, but the Tribunal ruled she wouldn't have been given the job anyway because the business closed due to the pandemic. The decision also said Shahbakhshi wasn't qualified to use the type of laser the salon used.

While the Tribunal ruled Shahbakhshi wouldn't have gotten the job anyway, it ordered the salon to pay her $15,000 for injury dignity.

"The nature of this discrimination was serious. Ms. Melo explicitly connected Ms. Shahbakhshi’s deafness to her inability to do the job and refused to consider Ms. Shahbakhshi’s explanations about how she could communicate with clients," the Tribunal ruled. "I find Ms. Melo’s conduct was rash and prejudiced. I also find she was callous and insensitive to the effects that her words and actions were likely to have on Ms. Shahbakhshi."

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