Jessica Yaniv says tribunal ruling against her was ‘total misunderstanding’

Jessica “Jonathan” Yaniv has given comment to The Post Millennial in wake of the disastrous, and widely celebrated, loss of her highly controversial B.C Human Rights Tribunal discrimination suits against a number of Vancouver-area estheticians.

“The tribunal member misunderstood the complaint, and misunderstood the dynamics.” Yaniv claims, asserting the ruling had a “ton of inaccurate information” and was a “total misunderstanding.”

In late 2018, Yaniv brought 16 separate suits against primarily non-white, non-native English speaking estheticians in the Vancouver area. While the case was slow to gain media traction due to a publication ban that prevented media from knowing or publishing Yaniv’s name or many useful details about the cases, the tribunal eventually lifted the ban due to Yaniv’s own public comments about her cases.

Since the ban was lifted in July 2019, a torrent of information about Yaniv and Yaniv’s history has been publicized, including an extensive background of alleged sexual predation towards minors as well as racist and xenophobic sentiments.

The October decision by the BCHRT to dismiss Yaniv’s cases was accompanied by a 61-page report which, in meticulous detail, outlined the reasons for the tribunal’s decision. Yaniv’s racist and predatory history was among the reasons frequently cited for the ruling, with all of the women before the BCHRT being first-generation immigrants for whom English was not their native language.

While Yaniv told The Post Millennial she was in a “deep and severe depression” regarding the ruling, Sukhdip Hehar Gill, one of the women litigated against by Yaniv, had reported depression as a result of Yaniv’s suit many times during the tribunal hearings according to citizen journalist @GoingLikeElsie who reported live from many of the adjudications.

Hehar Gill has epilepsy and a severely autistic child, and due to the traditional circumstances of her arranged marriage, she was prevented from working. According to tribunal records, Hehar Gill proposed the idea of opening her own mobile beauty salon to make extra money to support her family, and her father and husband agreed.

As a result of the suit, Hehar Gill was unable to provide much for her family that year while under complaint from Yaniv.

Hehar Gill was not the only woman who suffered hardship as a result of Yaniv’s lawsuits. Other litigants, like pregnant Brazilian immigrant Marcia DaSilva, had to shutter their businesses completely. Like Hehar Gill, DaSilva used her small, home-based business to provide for her children.

Yaniv used a fake Facebook profile to solicit services from DaSilva, who accepted the appointment even after Yaniv said she is transgender, as the photograph Yaniv used appeared to show a female-presenting, pregnant woman, according to ruling documents. Once DaSilva accepted the appointment without issue, Yaniv began to ruthlessly harass the young mother, sending her repeated texts that made her feel “uncomfortable.” With the safety of her children her first priority, DaSilva cancelled the appointment.

Yaniv then called DaSilva’s employers and claimed she was a danger to children. Yaniv also reported her to Facebook, which resulted in her account being deleted. Yaniv’s calls and texts to the pregnant woman did not stop, and she ended up having to call the police.

In light of all of the details adjudicated from the tribunal, now made public, Yaniv’s claims of victimhood ring hollow. No less than 16 women’s lives were impacted for what the tribunal called a “calculated” and “extortionist” attempt at benefitting Yaniv’s own financial situation.

With files from Graeme Gordon.