A black employee who denounced a racist joke made by the manager of the store where she worked before being fired has won her case, the Commission for Human Rights and Youth Rights (CDPDJ) announced on Monday. .
Posted at 2:07 p.m.
According to the facts reported by the judgment, the employee worked in a shop where she witnessed a racist joke made by a customer to the manager. Since the employee – the only black person to work there – was at work, she preferred not to express her reaction, the CDPDJ said in a press release.
But during a team dinner, the director tells the same racist joke again. “This time, the employee is expressing her discomfort and her disapproval, specifies the Commission. His boss considers his reaction too personal. »
The employee will then post a comment about it on her private Facebook page, “without mentioning the event in question and without identifying her employer”. The next day, she is fired.
Discriminatory dismissal
In its judgment, the Court considers that the victim testified in a “sober, dignified and credible manner to the feeling of injustice of having been dismissed for having expressed a disagreement as well as to the emotions and fears that she still experiences. »
The Tribunal concluded that this was a discriminatory dismissal based on color and race. He clarified that an “employer cannot require an employee injured by racist behavior at work or during work to act as if she were not suffering from it”.
The employer was ordered to pay damages of $10,000 to the employee.
“The Commission is satisfied with this judgment, which demonstrates that racist remarks are unacceptable and that employers must protect their staff members from the effects of discrimination in the workplace,” said Philippe-André Tessier, President of the CDPDJ , who represented the employee.
“These inappropriate and unacceptable remarks made in his workplace by a person in a superior hierarchical position are all the more irresponsible,” adds Myrlande Pierre, Vice-President of the Commission. We hope that this decision sends a clear message not to underestimate the harmful impact of racist comments in the workplace for both individuals and the workplace itself. »