Xerox Canada/CASSA criticized for award
Xerox Canada is under criticism from Deaf advocates for sponsoring a prestigious award from the Canadian Association of School Systems Administrators (CASSA) that was given to Tony Stack, the former top official of the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. Why? The district, under his leadership, was found to discriminate against a Deaf boy named Carter Churchill for several years by failing to provide him with reasonable accommodations.
If you remember, I did reports in 2022 and 2023 about Churchill. His parents, Todd and Kimberly, said he was discriminated against because he, among other issues, was not getting ASL instruction. The Churchills had a legal fight with the NL English School District and its CEO, Stack, for several years to improve his access to education.
The case escalated to a hearing held by the Human Rights Commission of NL. It ruled in 2023 that the school district discriminated against Carter during his kindergarten to Grade 3 years, from 2016 to 2020. The school district was ordered to pay Todd and Kimberly about $150,000. This made national news in Canada.
[Screenshot of a news headline from CBC about the ruling]
Stack retired as the NLESD’s CEO in early 2023.
In February of this year, the CASSA and its sponsor Xerox Canada honored Stack with the EXL Xerox Award for Leadership to recognize his 25-year career in NL.
[Screenshot of a Facebook post showing Stack getting an award]
The Churchills said the presenting of the award is deplorable and it shows that Deaf people can be discriminated against without consequences. They said for Xerox as a corporation, it is a bad look to sponsor an award for leadership that is presented to an individual who led an organization that discriminated for multiple years against a vulnerable Deaf child in a wheelchair.
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The Canadian Deaf Grassroots Movement (CDGM) Founder and Chair Kimberly Wood expressed that they were also not happy with CASSA/Xerox. They wrote an open letter.
[Video excerpt from YouTube/Canada Deaf Grassroots Movement (3/20/2024)]
Kimberly Wood: The CASSA and Xerox Canada wanted to give this award for doing an excellent job. They deprived language from a Deaf child. How many of our members have also experienced what that Deaf child experienced in Newfoundland? It’s a common experience. So with the legal action, we were hopeful for a new change. We know it wouldn’t be overnight, but we hoped for a ripple effect to see improvements for Deaf children in mainstream settings with ASL and interpreting access. So this is a wrong picture. Something is wrong with that picture of the award being given. We do not accept it.
[End video clip]
The Churchills said they reached out to Xerox and CASSA to rescind the award. The parents said Xerox responded by saying that they basically had no role in selecting the person and that they need to follow up with the CASSA, who presented the award.
Last week, the CASSA responded to the Churchills by sending them a letter from their attorneys. The letter said although Stack’s district was found to discriminate against Carter in earlier years, the district did make improvements to its accommodations for Carter and didn’t discriminate against Carter in his later years. The CASSA said Stack “inherited” the issues that affected Carter and he fixed the deficiencies.
[Excerpt from CASSA’s response to the Churchills]
While it is true that Mr. Stack came into the role of senior educational leader in the District at a time when the Tribunal determined that the various accommodative measures provided to Carter fell short (and therefore it can be said that Mr. Stack inherited the issues which gave rise to the concerns in the Complaint), he also presided over the District when it made the decision to invest significant resources into fixing the deficiencies, and so he must be considered ultimately responsible for that decision as well.
[End excerpt]
Wood from the CDGM said the CASSA also sent her a letter from their attorneys.
[Video clip]
Wood: The CASSA recently replied to both the Churchills and to us at CDGM that they stand by their decision to give Tony Stack the award. CASSA didn’t see the human rights tribunal’s decision as something that would cause him to become unworthy of the award. They don’t care. Carter is a vulnerable Deaf child. He suffered and was behind in many things. He was discriminated against during his first four years of his (school) life. The CDGM will be steadfast in supporting and working with Carter’s parents to resolve this situation. We disagree with that award.
[End video clip]
The Churchills said they remember that Stack did testify before the Human Rights Commission that he is “accountable for everything” that happened to Carter.
[Excerpt from Tony Stack’s sworn testimony]
Q: Because ultimately, you know, if there was any kind of adverse finding by a Human Rights Commission or by a court against the school district, that responsibility would rest with you, wouldn’t it?
A: As I said before, I’m accountable for everything.
[End excerpt]
I’ve reached out to the CASSA and Xerox Canada but so far I’ve received no response.
So this is all that I have to share about this situation.
The Churchills said they hope to rally Deaf organizations across Canada to help fight this.
Canada DGM Open Letter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji4fsgHCbys
Churchills’ FB Page:
https://www.facebook.com/deafchildrenmatter
Previous reports:
https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/carter-churchill-human-rights-hearing