Christopher Iversen, who identifies as non-binary has now rejected Gateway Casinos and Entertainment’s settlement proposal in court. The plaintiff claimed that the offered money of CA$7,000 by the gaming company is not enough. They took the case to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, however, the court has decided to rule against him.
The incident in question dates back to March 2020 at an unidentified property of Gateway Casinos and Entertainment in B.C. According to court documents, Iversen resorted to using the female bathroom at the casino, after the male was closed, but after that, they were approached by security who asked them to provide identification. The plaintiff claims to be belittled for not being female.
Court’s Decision
According to the plaintiff’s statement, the patron was told that their verification does not correspond to female and was accused of using the wrong washroom. Iverson shared that the casino manager told them that anyone who identifies as transgender must first report to the customer service desk to check in in order to use the ‘other’ washroom. And were asked to leave.
Meanwhile, the casino operator has a different version of what happened that day. The casino says that it got a complaint from other patrons regarding someone who appeared to be male using the women’s bathroom. Also, the property told Iverson that there was a single, non-gender-specific washroom close by. However, the patron became agitated and told them he would get rich from the situation.
The plaintiff claimed that they knew high-ranking people in the government and then threatened to sue the property and contact the media about the problem. The two sides tried to resolve the issue vi mediation but to no avail, then the casino offered a CA$7,000 settlement. It also said that it would update its policy and training and issue Iverson a letter of apology.
But now the Tribunal ruled that the monetary offer was reasonable and that the case features just a single relatively brief incident and that there were no identity-related insults, violence, or repeated harassment. It also stated that there was a strong public policy interest for parties to resolve their dispute voluntarily and gave Iverson two weeks to accept the settlement.
Previous Gateway Casinos News
Over the last few months, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment managed to add two new gaming properties to its casino portfolio. First, in September 2022, the company’s Cascade Casino Delta launched operations in B.C. The new casino is close to the south end of the George Massey Tunnel in Delta and made its grand opening on September 29, 2022.
Shortly after that the company held a soft opening for its Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach in Ontario. Then at the end of January 2023, the casino finally had its grand opening representatives of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation handed the first gaming revenue sharing cheque worth more than CA$152,000 to the mayor of the town, Brian Smith.
Source: Bulmer, Ben “Non-binary gambler turned down $7K to settle bathroom dispute with B.C. casino” iNFO News.ca, February 4, 2023
