Alberta private school to appeal human rights prayer decision
CALGARY — A private school found to have discriminated against two Muslim students by not allowing them to pray is challenging the ruling in the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Webber Academy in Calgary is arguing in its appeal filed in mid-September that it has a right to remain secular.
Last summer, an lower-court judge upheld a decision by the Alberta Human Rights Commission that found Webber Academy unlawfully discriminated against the students. The judge also upheld a $26,000 fine.
The boys, who were in Grades 9 and 10, testified that praying is mandatory in their Sunni religion. Sarmad Amir and Naman Siddiqui, were told in 2011 that their praying — which requires bowing and kneeling — was “too obvious” in a non-denominational school.