A teacher fired from P.E.I.'s French Language School Board has laid a complaint saying racism led to his dismissal and to a criminal assault charge.

'Just because there isn't an individual who's saying something that's discriminatory, nevertheless, there often is racism.'— Greg Howard, Human Rights Commission

The trouble for Aritho Amfoubalela, who is originally from the Congo, started in 2006. He was teaching at Evangeline High School in Wellington, west of Summerside. While attempting to hurry along some students in the boys washroom, he slapped the rear end of one student with the back of his hand.

Amfoubalela was fired, charged and convicted of assault. That conviction was overturned in September 2009. Supreme Court Justice John Mitchell called the case trivial.

Amfoubalela, who is now a contract teacher in the Eastern School District, has now filed a discrimination complaint with the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission against the French school board.

Commission executive director Greg Howard told CBC News Wednesday Amfoubalela is alleging that people didn't like the high standards he set in the classroom, and that racism led to his dismissal.

"Him being a black African and not of that community, resulted in him being a target for these criminal proceedings, that other teachers wouldn't have been in the same circumstances," Howard said Amfoubalela is claiming.

The French school board denies the allegations, adding some high school students couldn't understand the way Amfoubalela taught.

Howard said proving the racism charge will be tricky.

"In this day and age, very few employers would be unsophisticated enough to say, 'We're not hiring you because we don't like where you're from.' So just because there isn't an individual who's saying something that's discriminatory, nevertheless, there often is racism," he said.

A date for the hearing has not yet been set.