Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered a automotive dealership in south-central Quebec to rehire an worker it had fired after he was convicted of sexual assault.
Administrative Choose Annie Laprade stated the enterprise had failed to indicate the worker’s crime was linked to his job or that the publicity surrounding the case would forestall him from finishing up his obligations.
“The employer has not demonstrated an objective link between the convictions of criminal offences and the employee’s employment,” Laprade wrote. “Even considering the media coverage, they do not have a detrimental, tangible, concrete and real impact on his ability to exercise his functions.”
Martin Roussin Bizier was fired from a Ford dealership in Thetford Mines, Que., after he was convicted in January 2024 of sexually assaulting two girls throughout his bachelor get together in 2022.
Courtroom paperwork say he sexually touched two girls aged 18 and 19 after they stopped to take photographs with him whereas he was strolling along with his cousin in Quebec Metropolis on the night time of his bachelor get together, wearing what the court docket doc describes as “colourful feminine clothing” that attracted consideration.
“It was during the photo session that he committed non-consensual sexual touchings on a woman, and one of her acquaintances,” Laprade’s choice reads. A battle then broke out with one of many sufferer’s pals, throughout which Roussin Bizier’s cousin hit the good friend with a cane and injured him, the doc states.
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The court docket doc says the dealership initially suspended Roussin Bizier following his arrest, however allowed him to return to work in early 2023. He was fired a yr later following his conviction on two counts of sexual assault.
Courtroom information present that final month he obtained a six-month suspended sentence, together with numerous situations. The sentencing decide famous he had no earlier legal document and deemed his danger of reoffending to be low.
His cousin was convicted of assault for his actions throughout the battle.
The dealership argued that protecting Roussin Bizier on workers might characterize a danger to feminine shoppers, who might should experience in automobiles alone with him throughout take a look at drives, and would hurt the dealership’s fame because the case had been publicized within the media.
However Laprade rejected their arguments, noting that Quebec’s Constitution of Human Rights and Freedoms prevents an employer from firing somebody solely due to a legal conviction, except the offence has a transparent and direct reference to the job.
In a call dated Jan. 31, she famous that the assaults, which occurred exterior a bar throughout a bachelor’s get together, had “nothing to do” along with his job as a salesman. The worker, she famous, had labored on the dealership for eight years and was thought of a powerful performer.
When he returned to work after the preliminary suspension, he labored for almost a yr with out problems till his conviction and firing, Laprade wrote. The argument that he poses a danger to shoppers throughout take a look at drives relies on “hypotheses or even stereotypes” fairly than the concrete proof the regulation requires, the decide wrote.
Laprade famous the corporate had argued that its fame might be broken by having the worker on workers. Whereas she acknowledged this as a reputable concern, she stated the dealership had failed to supply any proof that such harm occurred, similar to clients refusing to cope with Roussin Bizier.
She ordered the dealership to return the worker to his submit inside 15 days, and to pay him the wages he misplaced on account of being fired.
The lawyer representing the dealership, Cliche Auto Ford Thetford, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, whereas the lawyer representing Roussin Bizier stated his consumer most popular to not say something concerning the choice.
