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A former Lake Country high school student has won the first round of a BC Human Rights complaint alleging that teachers at her former school discriminated against her because she has multiple sclerosis.

According to a Nov. 9 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision, School District 23 applied to have the case thrown out, but the Tribunal ruled the former student had taken her allegations beyond the "realm of conjecture."

The move is not a win for the former student but means the case can progress to a hearing where the full evidence will be heard.

The case involves former George Elliot Secondary School student Faith Bigam who was in Grade 11 in 2019 and has multiple sclerosis.

She claims she was scheduled to speak at a school assembly about her multiple sclerosis but at the last minute was prevented from doing so.

Following the event, Bigam claims the school and School District 23 didn't take her complaint seriously and failed to initiate a formal investigation.

The decision said Bigam was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was in Grade 7 and it had changed her experience with friends and had been bullied.

She kept her multiple sclerosis diagnosis secret for years but when in Grade 11, and after missing a lot of school because of her health, a teacher encouraged her to talk about it.

"I finally realized that it was important to me to talk about MS and to spread awareness about it in a positive way at school." she said in the decision. "(I) thought it would be beneficial to the school, and to me and others like me."

It was arranged she would speak at a school assembly but when the day came it didn't happen.

The complaint's core is based on what was said just before the assembly, and both sides have contrasting versions of what took place.

In the decision, Bigam claimed that on the morning of the assembly she told the teacher she had no speaking notes or a presentation and the teacher "got in her face."

Bigam also claimed the teacher told her to talk about her friends "if (she) had any," because the assembly's theme was "love."

The student also claimed the teacher said she looked "fine" and that "I did not look like I had anything wrong with me."

With everyone raising their voices, she said she began panicking and crying.

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Bigam's mother Danielle MacDonald claimed the incident left her daughter "scared, shocked, and crying hysterically."

Ultimately, she didn't speak at the assembly, remained in tears for the rest of the day, and never returned to school again.

The teacher's version of the events is quite different and she claimed she didn't know anything about the speech until the night before.

"(The teacher) says she asked Ms. Bigam 'encouragingly' what the purpose of the presentation was, and what she was hoping to get out of speaking at the assembly," the decision read.

The teacher said she asked Bigam about whether she had any friends at school that she could talk about so she could tie the talk into the theme of love.

The teacher said the student's mother said the questioning was "too much" and began yelling at the teacher. The teacher claimed Bigam's mom escalated the situation.

Bigam had a multiple sclerosis relapse shortly afterwards caused by the stress of it all.

Following the incident, complaints were made to the school principal and school district who did discuss the matter with all those involved.

However, the Tribunal noted that no formal investigation was conducted which according to the school district’s policy should have happened.

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"In my view, the failure to follow the school district’s policies in relation to Ms. Bigam’s complaint to the school district, could indicate that the (school district) did not treat the allegations sensitively or seriously," the Tribunal said.

"Bigam says that because she felt her complaint with the school district was not taken seriously or properly investigated, it made her feel unsafe returning to school. Given this, it is my view that Ms. Bigam has taken her allegations about adverse impact out of the realm of conjecture," the Tribunal said.

As Bigam didn't return to school she looked for educational options that would work with her health.

"Bigam says that as a result of the assembly incident and the mismanagement of the school’s response, she could not return to school and lost out on educational and social opportunities. She says this led to further adverse impacts in terms of losing part of her school year, experiencing anxiety, and causing impacts to her feelings of dignity and self-esteem," the decision read.

The former student accuses the school district of failing to provide acceptable out-of-school educational options.

Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed Bigam's claims to have the teacher involved and the principal held personally responsible but allowed the case against School District 23 to continue to a hearing.

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