Vancouver: The issues of safety and religion are clashing at an International Forest Products mill in Surrey, BC.
Two Sikh men who wear turbans have filed a complaint against their employer after a new rule required all employees to wear a hard hat while on the job.
Mander Singh Sohal and Kalwant Sahota were escorted off the job site after Sohal refused to abide by the new rule.
Their lawyer, David Perry, said his clients essentially lost their jobs simply because they wear a turban.
The men have filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
In BC, helmets must be worn in any workplace where there is potential for a head injury but employers must accommodate affected workers in other areas where hard hats are not required. Interfor, which has until April 9 to respond to the complaint, said it found some jobs for the men in the receiving department.