The lawyer representing a comedian accused of making discriminatory cracks against a same-sex couple in his audience has walked out of a human rights tribunal hearing in Vancouver.
Lawyer James Millar says the tribunal has no business hearing the case because the human rights code doesn't trump his client's Charter right to freedom of expression.
The comedian, Guy Earle, has been accused of discriminating against a woman and her partner when they say he made vulgar remarks and gay slurs during a comedy show.
But Earle says he was trying to get the women to stop disrupting the show and his remarks were his right under freedom of speech protections.
Last fall, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the tribunal should not have a full hearing because it might not have the jurisdiction to determine if Earle's words were protected expression.
But in January, the tribunal said it would proceed with a full hearing anyway and then decide if it has jurisdiction.
