'Old man' father and 'kid' son blame ageism for same-day firings

A father and son who were fired from their jobs at a Vancouver company on the same day allege they are both the victims of age discrimination — one for being too young and the other too old.

Jaffar and Sadik Jaffar's mirror-image complaints against Yaletown Mini Storage (YMS) have both been approved to proceed before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, following decisions filed last week saying both complaints met the tribunal's requirements for timeliness.

The father says he was called "old man," the son "kid," and both allege their ages were factors when they were fired on April 17, 2017, according to the decisions in both cases.

Father and son worked at car wash

Sadik is the younger Jaffar, and he was just 17 when he started working for a car wash owned by YMS in 2012. He moved up to a management position within about a year and a half, according to the decision in his case.

Nevertheless, he claims the company's vice president of operations, Paul Facciol, consistently called him "kid" throughout the five years they worked together.

Sadik Jaffar told the tribunal he didn't like the nickname and asked Facciol at one point to use his name, but the boss responded "You're still a young kid," according to the decision in his case.

He also claims his age was used against him when he approached Facciol about being paid for extra hours he had worked.

"He alleges Mr. Facciol's response was to tell him that he already made a lot of money for a kid," the decision says.

The younger man alleges the treatment continued until the day he was fired, when Facciol allegedly said he was blown away that a kid had written up a much older mechanic for a disciplinary issue.

And it didn't end there, according to Sadik Jaffar. He alleges Facciol even called him a kid during a hearing at the Employment Standards Branch about the firing.

Father alleges health problems

The elder Jaffar, meanwhile, says management increasingly referred to him as "old man" after he turned 57 last year. Facciol allegedly referred to him as the "older guy in the company" and the "most expensive guy in the company."

Jaffar Jaffar was making $19 an hour when he was fired, according to the decision in his case. He alleges YMS posted job ads for his former position as a car wash attendant the day after he was fired, advertising starting wages of $14 per hour.

The decision in his case has few other details about the firing. Jaffar Jaffar claims the firing caused him to develop a number of health problems, including insomnia, anxiety and headaches.

None of the allegations in the Jaffars' complaints have been proven before the tribunal, and YMS has not responded to a request for comment.