An Indian-origin retail establishment worker in the Canadian state of Manitoba has filed a lawsuit against a police officer for allegedly investigating his home without a warrant and threatening to deport him.
Harjot Singh, a cashier at a Sargent Avenue convenience store, told the CBC television channel on Friday (5th January) that Winnipeg police officer Jeffrey Norman’s actions left him so shaken that he resigned from his job there. Singh was told he was being arrested for obstructing a police officer after his mobile was taken away and he was handcuffed.
According to Singh’s statement, filed late last month in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, Norman attempted to enter the shop while it was temporarily closed on December 2 of last year. Singh opened the door “after a very brief interval,” and Norman began searching the property without a warrant.
According to the statement of claim, Norman interrogated Singh and threatened to deport him from Canada if he did not cooperate. According to the lawsuit, the search was “warrantless and unreasonable in the manner in which it was carried out”, and left Singh so terrified that he quit his job at the store.
While none of the claims in the statement were yet proven in court, the complaint claimed that the officer’s behavior was high-handed and “discriminatory based on the national or ethnic origin”.
It also noted that Norman’s conduct “amounted to battery, false imprisonment and arbitrary detention, unjustified seizures and searches, and an infringement of Singh’s rights.”
In addition to seeking an undefined amount in general, constitutional, and punitive damages, the complaint requests that a judge compel the City of Winnipeg to develop a remedial education program for the Winnipeg Police Service.
Along with Norman, the City of Winnipeg is named as a defendant in the action. While no statements of defense have been filed, the CBC reports that Police officer Norman has been cited in at least two previous lawsuits alleging inappropriate use of force.