Kelowna bank robber wins $10k for unfair work dismissal

Jul 30, 2025 | 6:00 AM

A Kelowna man, with a criminal record, has been awarded $10,000 by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

It found that the company that hired the man, known only as “Mr T”, was wrong to fire him from his job once they learned he’d robbed a bank when he was younger.

This, despite him lying about any criminal record when applying for the job.

The tribunal found Mr T had committed that crime when suffering mental illness and there was now a very low likelihood of him engaging in violent or threatening behaviour, or trying to steal money.

In the ruling, Devyn Cousineau, Vice Chair, said in part, “…when Mr. T committed the bank robbery, he was dealing with an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. He was in his early 20s and, by his own admission, immature and unwell. He had been living apart from his family, navigating an eviction without any meaningful supports. His rationale for the crime derived from his mental illness and a fixation on proving a point about money. He has never done anything like that before, or since.

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“There is no evidence to suggest that the circumstances leading to the crimes were likely to recur absent a complete decompensation in his mental health, which he had planned for. These extenuating circumstances support that the likelihood of Mr. T engaging in violent or threatening behaviour, or trying to steal money, was very low, if not negligible.”

The full case in front of the BCHRT can be seen here.

by Vernon Matters Staff

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