A BC man considered a significant safety concern when released from prison to a halfway house has been awarded $30,000 after staff at the halfway house kicked him out because he was too high maintenance.

According to a June 11 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision, the Salvation Army staff that ran the halfway house deemed Mr. M “unmanageable” and withdrew its services after a day.

As a condition of his release, he was required to stay at the halfway house, so when staff refused service, he was taken back to prison.

Mr. M then sued the Salvation Army at the BC Human Rights Tribunal, arguing it discriminated against him based on his mental disability.

The decision says Mr. M has Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD and was jailed after being involved in a critical car crash that took place in Nova Scotia in 2011.

In 2021, he was released to Belkin House, a halfway House run by the Salvation Army in downtown Vancouver.

When he arrived, staff were told he’d also received additional convictions for harassing staff while in prison.

“He is highly intelligent, but his social boundaries are very poor … So please maintain professional boundaries with him,” a parole officer told staff. “Please exercise caution dealing with him, especially if he is under the influence or if his mental health is in decline.”

On his first day there, Mr. M told staff he wanted to go for a walk outside to clear his head, but became “flustered and overwhelmed” and said he got lost.

Staff checked on him later and asked if he was feeling suicidal. He was visibly upset, crying, and at times pulling at his hair, but said he was OK. Staff were concerned he was unmanageable.

A while later, he “voiced an intention” to die by suicide.

“Each time he mentioned suicide, Mr. M’s voice was loud, and his tone was aggressive. He had trouble staying on topic and would shift from one idea to another quickly without finishing his thought,” the decision says.

Staff noted “signs of paranoia” and contacted paramedics to attend for a mental health check.

Police arrived and spoke to Mr. M, who had calmed down. Police concluded he didn’t need to be apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

Staff then decided he wasn’t manageable at the halfway house.

“When Belkin House withdraws services to an offender in this way, a Canada-wide warrant is issued for the offender’s arrest for breaching the conditions of their statutory release,” the decision reads.

Police arrived, arrested him, and took him back into custody.

Staff noted Mr. M was “cooperative during arrest, and his behaviour was completely different from how he presented himself to … staff hours before.”

At the Human Rights Tribunal, Mr. M argued that staff failed to accommodate him.

“He says Salvation Army knew about his mental health conditions and took actions that caused severe harm,” the decision reads. “He says this was discrimination.”

The Salvation Army disagreed, saying the magnitude of the safety risk was “enormous” and it had to ensure Mr. M’s safety and the safety of its staff.

“Salvation Army argues that, by the time it withdrew its services, it had exhausted all reasonable and practicable options available to it,” the decision reads.

However, the Tribunal disagreed.

“I am not persuaded that the evidence establishes that Mr. M posed a risk to his own reasonable safety or that of others at the material times. Unlike the typical halfway house resident, Mr. M did not have a long history of violent offences,” the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal said there was no physical violence during his stay.

“He did not threaten to harm others or to damage property,” the Tribunal said. “While… Mr. M was very distressed and emotional at various times, and sometimes communicated in a way that was loud and aggressive, it also establishes that he was compliant.”

The Tribunal said the Salvation Army’s own evidence showed that he was often calm, complied with instructions, took his medications, and went to sleep.

“Mr. M had no history of suicide attempts and was considered not to be an ‘immediate risk for suicide’ when he was released to Belkin House,” the Tribunal said. “Following each expression of thoughts of suicide, Mr. M eventually became calm and compliant.”

The Tribunal ruled that the Salvation Army had not exhausted available, reasonable alternatives to withdrawing its services when it did so.

“I am mindful that the Salvation Army withdrew its services in good faith, in a belief that it was necessary to do so to fulfil its goal of keeping Mr. M and others reasonably safe… they did not take the decision lightly,” the Tribunal ruled. “At the end of the day, however, the (Human Rights) Code is more concerned with impacts than intentions.”

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered the Salvation Army to pay Mr. M $30,000 in compensation.