By Cristin Schmitz

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Allegations to the Senate that visible minority lawyers are discriminated against at the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) when it comes to hiring, responsibilities and promotions has prompted a number of racialized DOJ lawyers to speak out.

Toronto lawyer Mark Persaud drew headlines last month when he told a Senate committee examining employment equity in the public service that racism was rife at the 4,800-employee department in 2003 when he left due to health reasons, after 10 years as a civil litigator and criminal prosecutor in Toronto.

Mark Persaud. Photo by Paul Lawrence

Persaud, who told The Lawyers Weekly he has retained counsel to look into suing his ex-employer for constructive dismissal and abuse of authority, charged that the DOJ’s “poisonous, toxic culture” has spurred many visible minority lawyers to leave over the years.

He alleged visible minority lawyers have been subjected to systemic discrimination which makes them less apt than their co-workers to be recruited, mentored, promoted or get access to the types of files that help lawyers move up the DOJ career ladder.

“My experiences as an employee of the DOJ are an example of the problems that have been festering for many years without being adequately addressed — these include overt racism and intimidation of employees,” Persaud said.

Persaud, who arrived in Canada as a refugee from Guyana in 1983 and earned a Master’s of Law, told the Senate an ex-DOJ lawyer who is now a judge recently privately described the DOJ “as the most racist institution I have ever encountered.”

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