For the second time, the Yukon Human Rights Board of Adjudication has dismissed a complaint from a man convicted of beating and sexually assaulting a number of women, who says the government discriminated against him on the basis of his criminal record.

Thomas Molloy claims he was fired from his job with the Yukon Tourism Education Council (YTEC) because of his criminal record.

This record includes several convictions for fraud, multiple sex assaults and spousal assault.

He was also charged with molesting an infant, but was acquitted after trial.

After hearing Molloy's case a second time, the human rights board ruled it was Molloy's violent behaviour which led to his dismissal, not the criminal record which followed

The four-person board also found Molloy to be an unreliable witness who "played with words in such a manner as to mislead the triers of fact” during his most recent hearing.

In late 2004, YTEC hired Molloy, who now lives in Edmonton, to teach a course to Yukon government employees.

He was abruptly dismissed when several women in the class learned of his violent history. They complained about having him as an instructor, saying they no longer felt safe in his classroom.

Molloy launched a human rights complaint against YTEC and the government, which had contracted YTEC to provide customer service training for its staff.

The claim against YTEC was eventually dropped, but Molloy and the human rights commission continued to pursue the case against the government.

The first time his case was heard by the human rights board, it was dismissed because the panel found there was no evidence Molloy was employed by the government; therefore the government could not discriminate against him.

The human rights commission, a separate body which receives and investigates complaints, appealed the decision.

Justice Harvey Groberman granted the appeal. Although the government did not hire Molloy, the justice said, it did interfere with his employment, and therefore engaged a unique section of the Yukon Human Rights Act.

This time around, the human rights board – which is now chaired by a lawyer – did a detailed analysis of the case law surrounding the matter.

The board found the Yukon government made the decision to withdraw its employees not because of Molloy's criminal record, per se, but out of concern for the employees health and safety.

As one witness told the four-person panel, it was his understanding Molloy "had a history of preying on women ... that he took opportunities in the workplace to target potential victims.”

The fact that Molloy's violent behaviour also led to criminal charges is irrelevant, the board decided.

For his part, Molloy tried to downplay his extensive record of assaulting, raping, and harassing his wives and girlfriends.

During the hearing, he repeatedly said his record is not as bad as it looks.

"From time to time, people plead guilty for things, for whatever reason, they did not commit,” he said of his most recent assault conviction.

"... Unfortunately, I pled guilty to that because of circumstances at that time.”

Another example, which the board members pointed out in their decision, "was that (Molloy) denied ever being imprisoned, even though he later admitted he had spent a significant period of time in jail. His justification for this denial was that he did not characterize being in ‘jail' as being in ‘prison'.”

The board's conclusion that Molloy was an unreliable witness is not new.

In 1997, an Ontario judge who was hearing a harassment case against Molloy called him a "poisonous spider”.

"I confess it is almost scary listening to this cool, collected man speaking so softly and lying through his teeth,” the judge said of Molloy's testimony.

Molloy left the Yukon after his course was cancelled, which was widely publicized in the Yukon's media.

He moved to Edmonton, where he has continued to have trouble keeping volunteer and professional positions.

The Mill Woods Presidents Council forced Molloy from its Canada Day committee following complaints about his behaviour from other volunteers, the Star has learned.

He was also ejected from two other local community leagues in the Mill Woods area of Edmonton, according to sources in that city.

He was briefly employed by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce before being dismissed. Officials at the chamber would not say why he was let go.

Everyone the Star spoke to in the Edmonton business community asked that their names not be used in this story because, they said, they were afraid Molloy would sue them.