Friday, May 13, when Alexandra Méza left her English class to settle some details concerning the organization of the end-of-year prom, she had no idea that she would not set foot in class before one week.
A graduate of Chutes high school in Rawdon, Alexandra chose this day to wear a ” cropped top or a belly sweater, which showed an inch or two of skin on her stomach and back. According to the dress code of her school, where there is no uniform, this type of clothing is prohibited. While circulating in the school, she was therefore challenged by a supervisor who told her that her sweater was not in the regulations.
“I offered to go and put on a jacket that I had in my locker, but she didn’t want to,” explains Alexandra in an interview with the To have to.
So she called her father, who simply told her to go and put on her jacket. But the supervisor insisted on sending Alexandra to the management office.
“She was trying to grab my arm and she lowered her mask,” says the student, recalling that the mask was compulsory in indoor places as of May 13. It was at this time that the young woman began to film the scene. In the five-minute video, to which The duty has had access, it is possible to see the supervisor calling for reinforcements when the student begins to film.
“I told myself that I was going to film just to protect myself, explains Alexandra. The supervisor was constantly trying to grab my arm. “In the video, we can indeed see the supervisor, visibly angry by the fact of being filmed, who advances without stopping towards Alexandra. “Yes, I’m filming you because you’re moving towards me and I’m trying to back up,” the student can be heard replying to him.
Escorted by two employees, Alexandra was taken to the management office, where three adults met her. In the recording, a woman is distinctly heard ordering the student to stop filming and delete the video from her phone. As Alexandra continues to film, the woman says to one of her colleagues in an abrupt tone: “Okay, ok, call the police. »
The student’s mother, Isabelle Forand, was appalled when she learned of the situation. “She is a minor, we were not there to protect her and she was vulnerable. There was a balance of power, ”she laments.
This “insubordination” resulted in five days of suspension for Alexandra Méza: the rest of the day during which the intervention took place, which also caused the student to miss a French exam, as well as the first four days of the following week. “We never had a call from the school or the director,” says the young woman. It was on my student portal that I saw that I had external suspension days. As for her mother, she explains that it was the Center de services scolaire des Samares and not the school that contacted her to follow up.
“reasonable cause”
This altercation raises the following debate: is it forbidden, even illegal, to film a person without necessarily obtaining their consent as Alexandra did with the supervisor?
“In principle, there is nothing that prohibits someone from capturing images, explains the full professor at the Public Law Research Center at the University of Montreal Pierre Trudel. Where there is a requirement to obtain consent is for dissemination. »
The professor explains that in a situation like the one Alexandra experienced, two rights clash: “There is the right of a person to oppose the recording of their image, but there is also the right to a person to document an incident that they believe to be a threat to their rights. He also indicates that case law reflects this ambiguity by stipulating that it is prohibited to film someone without their consent unless there is a reasonable reason.
Among these reasons considered reasonable are the fear of being badly treated or threatened, or even having the concern to “document comments that could constitute harassment”, mentions the professor.
That Friday, surrounded by adults who spoke to her in a harsh tone, Alexandra felt threatened. “I didn’t know what to do, I was like I couldn’t think and I was really on the verge of crying,” recalls the student. Still aware of her rights, she refused to delete the video when ordered to do so, because “I know it’s not done, asking to delete a video”.
Mr. Trudel confirms that “a court may, after finding that a person has a video that he does not have the right to hold, order suppression measures”. However, this can only occur “after an investigation during which the legality of the possession of such a document would have been examined”. Otherwise, it is not possible to order the deletion of a video on a phone, since it “is considered an object of a person’s private life”.
And was the threat to call the police that the adults threw at Alexandra realistic? “If there is no threatening gesture, the police cannot intervene”, nuance Pierre Trudel.
Other incident
Another student from Des Chutes high school contacted by the To have to, Audrée Rioux, who is the student president at the school, claims to have also had bad experiences in connection with the application of the dress code. “On May 2, I wore high-waisted jeans and a navel-length sweater. When I arrived at school, supervisors asked me to raise my arms in the air to check if my skin was visible. She was then asked to either wear a school-provided sweater or go home.
As for Alexandra Méza, who is entering the home stretch of her secondary career and who had never been suspended before, it is a fishtail end. “We are in 2022. Now, can we accept to see an inch of skin? asks the student.
At the time these lines were written, the Center de services scolaire des Samares had not responded to our interview request.