Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Copyright: 2013 The Hamilton Spectator Contact: http://www.thespec.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181 Author: Teri Pecoskie GATOR TED'S CLEARED IN MEDICINAL POT DISPUTE It took eight years and $80,000, but Gator Ted's has come out on top. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint against the Guelph Line sports bar, bringing an end to a nearly decadelong dispute between owner Ted Kindos and a patron who smokes medicinal marijuana. "It's a huge victory against Big Brother," Kindos said. "We protected our restaurant, at the end of the day. We knew we did nothing wrong." Steve Gibson, a restaurant regular, launched the complaint in 2005, saying he was discriminated against when Kindos asked him not to smoke marijuana outside the establishment's front door. Customers had complained about the smell, the owner said. Gibson, who injured his neck in an industrial accident, is among the nearly 14,000 Canadians who are authorized to use marijuana to control pain. In his 3 3-page decision, Brian Eyolfson, an adjudicator for the tribunal, found Gibson does not have a disability-related need to smoke marijuana immediately outside Gator Ted's. He also said he's not satisfied Gibson established a case of discrimination. Kindos said he was ready to settle with Gibson several years ago, agreeing to pay him $2,000 for mental anguish, arrange sensitivity training for staff and post a sign saying the bar accommodated medicinal smokers. He changed his mind, however, when the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario warned that he could lose his liquor licence if anyone is caught smoking pot on restaurant property. The decision to fight the complaint wasn't cheap. In all, Kindos estimates he spent as much as $80,000 on the proceedings. "It was a huge financial impact, but we never gave up," he said. Gibson, meanwhile, said he wasn't surprised by the outcome. Reached at home Friday evening, he said he finds the whole situation "ridiculous." "The government doesn't know what the hell they're doing," he said, before hanging up the phone. Kindos's lawyer, Gary Graham, described the tribunal's decision as "emotional" for his client. "All he did was make a reasonable request to somebody that they do what they had to do away from the entrance of the restaurant," he said. "He was just protecting his business." Graham also said the case raises important questions around the province's procedures for filing human rights complaints. "Under the system by which human rights are adjudicated in Ontario, someone can fill out a form and make a complaint and put a small business through 10 years of litigation without there being any threshold as to how reasonable the complaint is," he said. "What Ted's case does is demonstrate how vulnerable a small business is to frivolous complaints." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom