A Toronto teacher fired in 2021 for wearing a Halloween costume that resembled blackface has won reinstatement after a labour board ruled the incident was an unintentional mistake.Arbitrator Norm Jesin wrote that 62-year-old business instructor Gorian Surlan acknowledged the harm caused by his appearance but did not intend to offend. “In my view this is an appropriate case for reinstatement,” Jesin said in his decision.Surlan, who taught at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, testified that he quickly assembled a costume with black clothing and face paint provided by his daughter. He said his goal was to appear as a zombie, not to mimic a racial caricature. Jesin noted Surlan, a Serbian national, was unfamiliar with the history of blackface in Canada.The incident occurred after Surlan removed part of his costume mask, leaving his painted face visible to Grade 9 students, some of whom photographed him. The arbitrator found he should have been more aware of how the costume might be perceived but accepted his testimony that the intent was not malicious.The Toronto District School Board did not contest that Surlan lacked intent to offend, but argued intent was irrelevant under policy. Jesin disagreed, saying intention mattered when weighing whether the misconduct permanently damaged the employment relationship.The dismissal was overturned and replaced with a two-year unpaid suspension, retroactive to 2021.
