A former police officer who claims he was discriminated against because of his perceived obesity, may see his case go before a Human Rights tribunal.Ian DeAlie took the Commissioner of Police to court following his transfer from the Bermuda Police Service’s Intelligence Division in 2006.His initial claim was that he was moved because of a disagreement with his ranking superior Paul Wright, who is now the Assistant Police Commissioner.However in Supreme Court yesterday, Mr DeAlie’s lawyer Allan Doughty said his client now understood he was transferred because officers thought him “visibly obese” and believed he sweated “profusely”.Mr DeAlie was then discriminated against as a result of a perceived disability, Mr Doughty said.Alan Dunch, lawyer for the Commissioner of Police, argued that the Human Rights Act defines discrimination as dismissing, demoting or refusing to employ.“What’s alleged is that he was in a particular post and, for operational reasons, he was transferred from one post to another,” he said.Mr Dunch argued that the Commissioner is subject to the Governor, but otherwise has an open-ended right to administer the service however he sees fit.However, his application to stay the proceedings was not accepted by Justice Ian Kawaley, who then granted an application for the matter to be adjourned.Justice Kawaley described the case an “unusual” at the start of yesterday’s proceedings.Mr Doughty told The Royal Gazette: “As to whether discrimination against a person on the basis of a perceived disability amounts to a violation of the Human Rights Act, Mr Justice Kawaley said that the court would be very reluctant to make such a determination which should properly be made by a Board of Inquiry after hearing the evidence.”Although no date has been set, the Board will convene to decide whether Mr DeAllie’s case can proceed.