The RCMP is challenging an order that it pay an expelled cadet $500,000 and give him another chance at joining the force.

The Mounties argue the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal made mistakes in finding they had discriminated against Ali Tahmourpour.

In its ruling last month, the tribunal found the RCMP had unfairly tossed Tahmourpour, an Iranian-Canadian, out of its training program in Regina in 1999.

It also ordered the Mounties to develop a cultural-sensitivity program for employees and put in place policies and procedures for dealing with harassment and discrimination during training.

In requesting a judicial review of the decision, the Mounties say the tribunal was wrong to find that Tahmourpour was the victim of systemic discrimination.

They are also challenging the tribunal's right to order the remedies it did.

The decision said the RCMP must pay him $30,500 for pain and suffering, for a special payment and for expenses. It also has to pay him some lost wages and interest, which could total several hundred thousand dollars, Tahmourpour's lawyer, Barry Weintraub, told CBC last month. In total, Tahmourpour should receive $500,000 to $650,000, Weintraub said.

The tribunal also ordered the RCMP to pay Tahmourpour's legal bills, which Weintraub said were about $500,000. That could bring the total cost to the RCMP above $1 million.