Twin 10-year-old boys threw a tantrum on Tuesday after being expelled from university and are seeking reparations for age discrimination from a human rights tribunal.
With the help of their mother, Sebastien and Douglas Foster filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission after the University of Ottawa expelled them from a course that looked at the environmental, political and ethical issues raised by advances in science and technology.
The university said it made a mistake when it allowed the twins to enrol in the course in September.
“The expulsion had nothing to do with age,” spokesperson Sophie Nadeau said. “They didn’t have a high school diploma and weren’t in the process of obtaining a high school diploma, which is required for admittance.”
But the family refused to accept the school’s explanation, saying the university took their tuition fees, issued student cards to the boys, and they completed the required course work despite being booted from the class.
“As far as I’m concerned, they’ve earned their credits,” their mother Wendy Foster, who had taken the course too, told local media. The boys are seeking unspecified damages, she added.
Commission spokesperson Jeff Poirier would not comment on the case, but said age discrimination complaints from children are rare. The statute is aimed primarily at curbing injustice to seniors, he added. — AFP