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A Hearing Committee  report of the Alberta Law Society deals with a defense attorney’s treatment of staff at a correctional facility

 It is alleged that, while attending at a correctional centre on December 28, 2018, M. Naeem Rauf failed to act in a courteous and civil manner by communicating in a manner that was abusive, offensive, and inconsistent with the proper tone of a professional communication from a lawyer, and that such conduct is deserving of sanction.

He had initially been polite when advised that staffing issues would delay him but when he dealt with another staffer

 An argument then occurred between Mr. Rauf and G.N. where Mr. Rauf attempted to explain to G.N. that he was a lawyer and he had been told to wait for a supervisor and to have a seat in the lobby. Mr. Rauf also tried to explain that he had been in the lobby previously and that his personal belongings were on the counter. G.N. refused to let Mr. Rauf in. At this point, Mr. Rauf can be seen in the video pointing to his ear emphatically. G.N. stated that Mr. Rauf then told him to “Get [his] fucking hearing checked”. M.Y. testified that he also heard this statement made by Mr. Rauf over the intercom. The video shows a lengthy conversation between G.N. and Mr. Rauf. G.N. testified that spit was coming out of Mr. Rauf’s mouth and it landed on his face and clothes. However, he regarded this as accidental. G.N. and M.Y. were not certain as to whether this statement was made once or more than once. Mr. Rauf disputes this and says that he only told G.N. to get his hearing checked and did not use profanity. The video does not show G.N. attempting to wipe or block his face during this discussion.

Ultimately, G.N. was satisfied that he could let Mr. Rauf into the Centre. In his evidence, G.N. stated that Mr. Rauf pushed by him to get in. M.Y., who was watching through CCTV, also thought there might have been physical contact. It is clear from the video that there was no physical confrontation and that Mr. Rauf simply walked in behind G.N.

He then waited in the lobby

The officers again explained to Mr. Rauf that they could not accommodate a visit until 1:00 pm due to staff shortages. Both M.Y. and L.F. stated that while Mr. Rauf was initially polite, he quickly became upset. Mr. Rauf expressed his dissatisfaction that the profession was not notified about the fact that visits could not be accommodated between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. M.Y. then asked Mr. Rauf what had happened with G.N. at the door to which Mr. Rauf replied, “Mind your fucking business.” Mr. Rauf denies this exchange took place.

L.F. and M.Y. also said that Mr. Rauf at one point uttered words to the effect that they were public servants and they worked for him or that they should “do their fucking jobs.” Mr. Rauf denies that this was said.

 At this point, J.S. had been standing at the door about 15 feet away observing the situation. As he viewed it getting more escalated, he told Mr. Rauf to calm down. He then stated that Mr. Rauf told him to “mind his fucking business” and stormed towards him. Mr. Rauf denies this statement but says that he viewed J.S.’s comment as being meddlesome and disrespectful. He agrees that words were exchanged. The CCTV video of the lobby shows Mr Rauf coming towards J.S. and speaking to him. From the video it is clear that Mr. Rauf is speaking in an animated fashion. He is roughly within a foot or so of J.S.’s face and is pointing and gesturing at him. There is no audio with the video, but Mr. Rauf is speaking to him and the video shows this occurring for roughly 90 seconds, at which point J.S. leaves and Mr. Rauf goes to sit down.

 J. S. stated that during this time, Mr. Rauf was yelling and was so emotional that spit was coming out of his mouth and hit him in the face a number of times. Mr. Rauf agreed that it was possible that he may have accidentally spit on J.S. once because he does not have front bottom teeth and this causes spit to come out on occasion. J.S. does not suggest that it was intentional. Due to a reflection in a window it is not possible to see from the video whether J.S. wiped or blocked his face at any point.

When a supervisor responded. he was calm and polite

Mr. Rauf testified and denied any uncivil behaviour. He expressly denied the use of profanity. He asserted that he had a legitimate concern with the denial of access to his client and was appropriately seeking redress by speaking to supervisors and staff.

After assessing credibility of the witnesses, the committee concluded

We find that the LSA has proven on a balance of probabilities that Mr. Rauf acted uncivilly by repeatedly swearing at staff. In particular, we find that he was aggressive and abusive using the language testified to by the witnesses. The Committee determines that Mr. Rauf is guilty of the conduct specified in Citation 1 and that such conduct is deserving of sanction.

Sanction will be determined at a future hearing. (Mike Frisch)