Fired Durham student union executives allege termination was racially motivated
Jaylan Hayles, Geoffrey Olara and Toosaa Bush believe that they were all terminated from their executive positions with Durham College Students Inc. or racially-motivated reasons. An application for a judicial review by the three was recently denied, and they are contemplating their next move. (Photo supplied)
When Jaylan Hayles started his role as president of Durham College Students Inc. in May, he was sure that he would complete the year in that role.
That assumption turned out wrong, as he and his two former vice-presidents were let go from their positions shortly after, a decision the three believe was due to them being Black.
While they were not able to share their letters of termination due to legal reasons, the men stated that there was no clear reason given in the letters, which lead them to believe that it was because of their race.
Hayles had been elected president in March, while Toosaa Bush was elected to the position of vice-president internal, and Geoffrey Olara was elected vice-president external.
According to Jonathan Schulman, one of the men’s lawyers, on June 19, Hayles, Bush and Olara had indicated to the board of directors that they wanted a third party to come in to discuss a new student health plan.
Soon after the meeting, the board gave itself the power to dismiss the executives and on June 28, the three of them were terminated.
The three of them believe that there is no doubt that their termination was about race, and they took action by seeking a judicial review that could overturn their termination and reinstate them to their positions. However, their application was denied.
While the proceedings may not have gone exactly their way, they were informed by the judge that they could still sue for breach of contract.
Schulman stated they were “terminated without cause… even though they were elected by 12,000 people.”
Hayles says they achieved “landslide victories,” with him winning by 500 votes, and Bush and Olara won by even more.
When they found out that they had been terminated from their positions, Olara and Hayles say they were shocked, with Olara saying that he expected, “[the board] to do everything they could to solve the situation.”
According to Hayles and Olara, the student body at Durham College has been very supportive and there are student petitions to have them reinstated. Hayles also said that he believes the students are outraged, and have been messaging them asking what they can do to help.
“Students who have reached out to me have been absolutely shocked,” said Olara.
Hayles said they wanted to use their positions as a way to show Durham Region’s diversity.
But that wasn’t all they wanted to do according to Olara.
“We wanted to give students bursaries. We wanted to give back to them.”
The three of them had wanted to make changes to the school ranging from a new logo to an updated health-care plan for students.
Durham College Students Inc. (DCSI) has released a statement detailing that they are committed to a safe and inclusive workplace.
“The decision to terminate their employment was only made after careful consideration by DCSI’s student selected board of directors, in the best interest of the association and the students we serve,” reads the statement.
An open letter from Andrew Nunez-Alzarez, a member of the Board of Directors for the DCSI, states that race was never a factor in the reason for the dismissal of Hayles, Bush and Olara. However, the board has yet to release a statement actually saying why they were dismissed.
Documents provided by DCSI did not share details on the process of replacing Hayles, Bush and Olara. It is up in the air as the school year begins on Sept. 5.