Don't dine in Vancouver

Last night's Instapundit linked this Mark Steyn zinger at The Corner:

...The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruled, after awarding a McDonald's employee $55,000:

There was no evidence of:

• the relationship between food contamination and hand-washing;

Thank goodness for that.

Great one-liner, though the underlying HRhero post reveals that the finding was more complex.^[1]

Still, only the most generous interpretation (the writer was being “lawyerly;” what he meant was, “McDonald’s failed to introduce any evidence of the relationship between food contaminatation and hand-washing, and therefore we couldn’t consider it”) excuses the Tribunal from a charge of bone-headedness. “No evidence of the relationship between food contamination and hand-washing” reeks^[2] of the 60s view that personal cleanliness is “just another cultural artifact.”^[3] Given Vancouver’s social climate, there are probably many of its citizens who still hold this view.

Which means it’s probably a good idea for anyone who’d prefer to skip a round of food poisoning to avoid restaurants in Vancouver– until the situation is clarified.


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^[1] Excerpt from the Tribunal's finding (quoted in the HRhero post):

• The doctor said that [the complaintant, who had worked for the restaurant for 20 years before developing a skin condition] couldn’t tolerate “frequent” hand-washing and that she was to have “minimal detergent and water contact,” but McDonald’s didn’t inquire about how often she could wash her hands or what level of detergent and water contact was acceptable.

• There was no real attempt to see if any alternative work or modified duties were available... For example, McDonald’s didn’t explore the possibility of finding appropriately fitted gloves (e.g., “salad preparation gloves”) that [the complaintant] may have been able to use...

^[2]Intended? - ed. Yep - o.g.

^[3] See: hippies, smelly

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 16:21:18 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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