The Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission has ordered a 17th Ave. S.W. nightclub to pay about $5,000 to a Sikh man from Vancouver who says he was denied entry by a doorman because the club didn’t want too many “brown people” inside.

Jaspal Randhawa, a 33-year-old accountant, says he tried to get into Tequila Nightclub with friends for a cousin’s stag in July 2004, but was turned away by a doorman who advised him that the owners wouldn’t want him inside. The doorman, testified Randhawa, told him the club’s owners wanted to “maintain a certain image” during Stampede weekend. Randhawa filed the human rights complaint shortly after returning to Vancouver.

Tequila argued that it doesn’t turn people away based on race, and asked why Randhawa didn’t ask to speak to a manager after the incident. (Randhawa testified he thought it would be “pointless” to speak to a manager.) Harry Dimitriadis, the club’s manager, testified he “didn’t have a lot to go on” and couldn’t go around firing people based on accusations about the incident with so little information.

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, the sole member of the commission panel that made the decision, ruled that the club discriminated against Randhawa “based on his race, religion and ancestry.” Dimitriadis, Colley-Urquhart wrote, didn’t “take this incident seriously and demonstrated disregard for the human rights complaint process” by repeatedly saying he was busy and didn’t have time for the complaint process. “The panel finds no evidence to indicate that the respondent took the complaint seriously and fully investigated the complaint,” says the ruling.

Tequila believes Colley-Urquhart erred in her ruling, and is considering an appeal. “We’re one of the farthest nightclubs from being racist,” says owner P.J. L’Heureux. “Walk into our room and it will be a mix of people.” L’Heureux would not comment on the specifics of the case.

In addition to the $5,000 for Randhawa, Tequila has also been instructed to participate in a human rights commission “education seminar” and to write a non-discrimination policy. Tequila has 30 days from the March 17 decision date to appeal. (JK)