Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered a car dealership in south-central Quebec to rehire an employee it had fired after he was convicted of sexual assault.
Administrative Judge Annie Laprade said the business had failed to show that the employee’s crime was linked to his job or that the publicity surrounding the case would prevent him from carrying out 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 women during his bachelor party in 2022.
Court documents say he sexually touched an 18- and a 19-year-old woman when they stopped to take photos with him while he was walking down a street in Quebec City dressed in a colourful costume.
The employer argued that keeping Roussin Bizier on staff could represent a risk to female clients and would harm the dealership’s reputation since the case had been publicized in the media.
But Laprade rejected their arguments, noting that Quebec’s Charter of human rights and freedoms prevents an employer from firing someone solely because of a criminal conviction, unless the offence has a clear and direct connection with the job.
