The student’s class professor initially denied the request but the school administration stepped in to override the prof’s decision.

Shawn Jeffords and Terry Davidson of the Toronto Sun report.

Hat tip to Ace Of Spades HQ.

York University prof fires back over religious accommodation controversy

A York University professor is firing back after being ordered to accommodate a student who requested he not have to work with female peers due to his religious beliefs.

Sociology Prof. Paul Grayson will be distributing a letter to his York colleagues in response to a statement made by the school’s dean on Friday.

The school stated a request by one of Grayson’s students — who has yet to be identified — must be granted because of the university’s obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code when it comes to religious accommodation.

“They’re trying to completely sidestep the whole issue of gender equality,” Grayson said Monday of the school’s response to the controversy.

Grayson argued that the decision made by York University Dean Martin Singer is a slap in the face to female students — the latter of whom, he maintained, also have rights to be treated equally.

But Singer’s letter to faculty laments media stories which he says “demonize York University and myself as dean.” He said Grayson’s refusal to accommodate the student was based on disapproval of the student’s beliefs.

“That disapproval of belief is precisely the way that discrimination on grounds of creed is defined,” he wrote.

The incident began in September when a student in one of Grayson’s online sociology classes e-mailed the veteran professor requesting not to attend an in-person project — a student-run focus group — because his beliefs dictate he not interact with women.

Grayson did not want to agree to the student’s request because of how it would make women in the class feel, and sent his reasoning to Singer. He was told he must accommodate the student the way he would one who was taking the course from far away.

The prof insisted the student was aware of the in-person component of the online course when he enrolled. He added the student accepted the professor’s decision when informed the request would not be accommodated.