Anti-Semitism Ruling

OTTAWA — The federal government discriminated against a Jewish civil servant because she followed her religion, a federal adjudicator ruled. The ruling agreed that Valery LaBranche’s workplace at the Ottawa headquarters of Passport Canada was poisoned by anti-Semitism, the Ottawa Citizen reported. The ruling said LaBranche’s co-workers discriminated against her because she left work early on Fridays to observe Shabbat and took off Jewish holidays, and that “her bosses did little or nothing to help her.” LaBranche, who converted to Judaism in 1997, said she was traumatized and required medical treatment and time off. She launched her grievance in 2007. The ruling said she became ill and unable to work after anonymous anti-Semitic messages were sent to her superiors. The ruling criticized Passport Canada as being more interested in protecting itself than her well-being.

Diamond Inducted

VANCOUVER — The late Jack Diamond was inducted into the B.C. Hall of Fame as a business leader who made an outstanding contribution to his community. Diamond, who died in 2001 at 91, was one of four 2010 inductees. He arrived in Vancouver from Poland at age 17 and parlayed a small butcher shop into the Pacific Meat Company, the largest packing house in B.C. A key philanthropist in the Jewish community, he co-founded Schara Tzedeck Synagogue, and was a companion of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia.