The words were shocking and so unfamiliar that Cheryl Khan's friends could not believe her boss used them.

"Paki," he called her, according to Khan's testimony before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. "Half-nigger babies," he said of her two little boys. "That's what you get for sleeping with a nigger."

In his decision, tribunal adjudicator Eric Whist accepted Khan's testimony, slamming her former employer, Lynn Tompkins of Lynx Trucking Transportation in Rexdale with a $25,000 fine along with an order that he create an anti-harassment policy and undergo training himself.

During the hearing, Tompkins said he was a tough boss, and yelled and swore at his employees, but denied using racist words.

Reached at his office last week, Tompkins again said he did not use those terms, claiming that he was "set up." He requested a face-to-face interview but later called back and cancelled.

The ruling, said Khan's lawyer, Bruce Best, sends a powerful message.

"Employees don't have to put up with this behaviour," said Best, of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. "You have rights and if you stand up for them, people will be forced to change."

In an interview, Khan said that changing Tompkins' behaviour toward future employees was her priority.

"I have been in Canada close to 35 years and had never experienced racism ever. Not in school, not in work, never," she said.

"To think that Canada is so multicultural and yet there are still people who say these words, and behave this way ..."

Khan has worked in the trucking business for 11 years, mostly as a dispatcher, connecting drivers with the loads they carry. She was hired by Tompkins in September 2007. His company picks up and delivers large freight containers that are used to hold goods on trains and ships.

According to Khan's testimony before the tribunal, it didn't take long before her boss began ridiculing her, and other minority employees – many of his truck drivers were South Asian men. He said that people of "East Indian" heritage were stupid and ignorant, she testified, saying he called her a stupid immigrant.

Another witness testified that Tompkins referred to his South Asian employees as "stupid or dumb," saying, "Why did we hire them? Are there not any good white people we could hire?"

When several employees of South Asian background wanted to take time off in October to attend Diwali, an important religious occasion for Hindus, Khan recalled her boss saying "the f---ing Indians don't want to work."

Khan said she tried to laugh off his comments at first, saying she couldn't believe that anyone would say those words and mean it. Later, she told Tompkins that he was not allowed to speak that way, testifying he responded by saying it was "his f---ing company."

She was fired on Jan. 30, after taking two days off while her youngest son was in the Hospital for Sick Children. She said doctors told her that he might have liver cancer, but later diagnosed him with swollen lymph nodes.

Tompkins testified that said he decided to fire her on the prior Friday, for poor work habits, such as using Facebook on company time and showing up late for work.

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Khan said she was occasionally late, used Facebook during work, and often worked overtime.

Khan has since found another job in the trucking business. Her children know what happened. They watched her work through depression and know that words can be used like weapons, she said.

During the five-day hearing last fall, several former employees testified on behalf of Khan. Tompkins brought in his own witnesses, employees who still worked for him.

The former employees described a poisonous atmosphere, where minority workers were repeatedly told they were lazy and lucky to have a job. One said he heard Tompkins use the term "nigger" every day.

Tompkins' witnesses told the hearing that he was a tough boss, who might have yelled, or raised his voice, but never used racist language.

In his written decision, adjudicator Whist said the issue of credibility was at the core of his findings.

The testimony of Khan and her witnesses was "clear and unproblematic," Whist wrote. He described the testimony of Tompkins and his witnesses as "inconsistent, troublesome and ultimately less persuasive."

"Having weighed the evidence before me I find, on a balance (of) probabilities, that (Tompkins) did repeatedly use the terms "Paki" and "nigger" as well as making other offensive comments to the applicant that he knew would be unwelcome."

Whist ordered Tompkins to pay $25,000 to Khan for discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code and another $6,750 for lost wages as a result of being fired from her job.

Released last Thursday, Khan said the ruling has taught her children the simple concept of right from wrong.

"They know now that if somebody ever calls them that name, they should defend themselves. If I didn't fight for this, they would have thought it was okay."