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A B.C. massage school that refused to treat a Muslim client because they have a "bad reputation for raping and killing" has made more Islamophobic submissions to the BC Human Rights Tribunal.

According to a May 5 BC Human Rights decision, the Northern School of Massage applied for a reconsideration and to submit more evidence after it failed to have the case thrown out in March.

However, the reconsideration application focussed on many of the same Islamophobic arguments it put forward the first time around.

In March, the Fort St. John massage school and its owner Joyce (Jo) Middleton lost the first round of a BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint launched by Majid Shahadat.

The complaint arose after Shahadat booked a lymphatic massage treatment from the school in 2019.

According to the decision, Middleton replied to Shahadat's booking and asked him if he was Muslim.

"Which as you know has earned a bad reputation for raping and killing of infidels in Canada and elsewhere," the email read.

She then went on to say she didn't mean to be "offensive" but had to be "watchful over my students" and refused to book him as a client.

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After losing the first stage of the BC Human Rights Tribunal case, she applied to have more evidence entered.

The decision said Middleton also argued that a female member of the Human Rights Tribunal should adjudicate the case.

"I infer from (Middleton’s) submissions that they are arguing that I could not decide the application fairly because I am not female," Tribunal adjudicator Ryan Goldvine said in the decision.

However, the adjudicator said she presented no evidence that suggested he couldn't decide the application fairly.

The massage school owner also put forward what she called "new evidence."

"The men we are most fearful of are men of the Islamic Faith because of the written content of the book they have vowed to worship," Middleton said in the decision.

The Tribunal said she made further references to the Quran and her own interpretations.

She also tried to submit statistics from "uncertain sources" relating to the prevalence of violence and sexual violence and tried to support generalizations she'd made about being concerned for the safety of her employees.

In the earlier decision, the Tribunal said some of her submissions were racial stereotyping and warned her not to advance negative stereotypes against Muslims.

The Tribunal ruled that Middleton had not offered any new evidence and failed to point out any part of the process that was unfair, "aside from the outcome."

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Ultimately, the Tribunal rejected the application to submit more evidence and allowed the case to go to a hearing.

The two parties may choose to settle before it gets to a hearing, however, she did originally offer an undisclosed amount of money which Shahadat refused.

She then accused him of "only seeking financial gain."

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