Yellowknife (May 11/05) - In a potentially precedent-setting case, a job applicant is claiming $150,000 in lost wages from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board for rejecting him because he was over-qualified.

"Using the term 'over-qualified' is discriminatory," Dan Pagowski, a lawyer for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, told a tribunal that opened Monday in Yellowknife.

The Commission hears complaints of discrimination based on race, ethnic or national origin, colour, religion and age. This is the first time it has been asked to consider a complaint based on over-qualification, Pagowski said.

"It's a systemic problem when applied to recent immigrants and visible minorities," Pagowski said.

"Well-qualified immigrants have a hard time accessing the Canadian job market."

A tribunal headed by chair Grant Sinclair is hearing a complaint from Gian S. Sangha that the water board discriminated against him when it did not offer him a job as a regulatory officer.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Sangha, who has a PhD from a Berlin university and is fluent in English, German and Punjabi, was one of 38 applicants when the water board advertised for six regulatory officers in 2001.

Sangha, 56, was one of 12 applicants interviewed, but was not offered one of the three-year contract positions, which pay $48,000 to $60,000 a year.

He was flown to Yellowknife from Vancouver for the interview. Two of three interviewers indicated they passed Sangha over because they considered him over-qualified, Pagowski said.

The interviewers thought Sangha should be considered for a more senior position, but a new executive director of the water board did not think anyone was needed in that job.

Sangha came to Canada in 1996. He has been unable to get a job that matches his qualifications, and still wants the job as a regulatory officer with the water board, Pagowski said.

The four-day hearing concludes Thursday. Sinclair is hearing the case alone and is expected to reserve his decision.