A former University of Toronto professor was repeatedly denied tenure-track positions in the Islamic studies department because he is of the Baha’i faith and a Canadian citizen, an Ontario Human Rights Board of Inquiry was told last week.

However, the university refutes this accusation, arguing that it was the narrow scope of Benjamin Todd Lawson’s expertise and scholarship that made him ineligible for each of the posts. Lawson was a contract professor at the university from 1988 to 1994. During this time, he made three separate applications for tenure-track positions advertised by the Department for Religious Studies and the Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies. He alleges that during the interview process for each position, the search committees raised questions and even concerns about his Baha’i faith. He failed to attain any of the positions and was eventually forced to leave the university when his contract expired in 1994. Baha’is follow the teachings of Baha’u’llah, a prophet who founded the Baha’i faith in the nineteenth century. They believe global peace can be achieved once all forms of prejudice, gender inequity and poverty have been eradicated, education has been made universally available and each person embraces the “relativity of religious truth.”

According to his lawyer, Robert Gibson, Lawson is seeking between $500,000 and $750,000 in compensation for the damage done to his career, as well as lost wages and pension benefits.

Gibson also said his client intends to return to the university as a faculty member.

“What we are seeking is a job with advanced placement in light of the seven years which have passed,” Gibson said.

In court last week, Michael Smith, legal counsel for the university, argued that Lawson was a contract professor whom the university was in no way obligated to hire for a tenured position once his contract expired.

He said failing to attain tenured positions does not ruin an individual’s career.

Rhonda Love, president of the University of Toronto Faculty Association, states that religious discrimination remains a rarity at the university.

“If we look at our grievance file, we don’t have very many cases like this. This is an unusual situation, as far as we know,” she said.

The case brings U of T’s hiring practices into question. According to Sue Bloch-Nevitte, of the university’s Public Affairs Department, the university does not provide search committees like that which interviewed Dr. Lawson with a list of questions they may or may not ask.

However, she stressed that this did not mean search committees are completely unregulated.

“Search committees are instructed that they cannot ask any questions that are restricted by law,” she said.

The Ontario Human Rights code states that neither creed nor citizenship are legal grounds upon which to deny an applicant employment. Lawson’s case is being argued under Part One of the Human Rights Code, “Freedom From Discrimination.”

The hearing is expected to take 40 days in total and is scheduled to end in June of this year.