Claiming that he was shown the door unjustifiably in 2019, a former employee of Groupe Juste pour rire won his case this week since he had been “hired for life”.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
His dismissal came in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct against Gilbert Rozon, the dismissal of his sisters Luce and Lucie Rozon and the change of custody in management.
His former employer will have to pay him $20,000 in moral damages, reinstate him in the company in 15 days and pay him the salary lost since February 2020.
Archivist at Just for Laughs since 1993, André Gloutnay sued several company entities and legal persons, including Gilbert Rozon (direct manager of Mr. Gloutnay at the time of his hiring), for $732,000 for moral damages, loss of salary up to on retirement (65 years old) and loss of the insurance plan. And this, even if the latter paid him a severance pay of one year. The archivist had a salary of $60,000 at the time of his dismissal.
Forbidden to apply for another position
The argument: he had been hired “for life” at Just for Laughs, for whom it was a job abolition. “The judgment mentions that Groupe Juste pour rire prohibited [André Gloutnay] to apply for another job,” says Ms.e Bruno-Pierre Allard, lawyer for the firm Chabot, mediator-lawyers, plaintiff’s representative. “A lifetime warranty is a rather unusual clause, but Mr. Gloutnay wanted to take advantage of this warranty. »
According to court documents, the archivist was shocked upon learning of the 2019 job cut, remained frozen in a desk for five hours following the announcement and nearly committed suicide after his dismissal. He suffers from “significant depressive disorders”.
On the side of Just for Laughs, it was argued that a lifetime work guarantee was not valid and that the new management had the right to terminate employment.
Gilbert Rozon was not sentenced, the judge considering that it was a commitment essentially against the Just for Laughs Group, and the company saying that she was responsible for the contract.
Groupe Juste pour rire is represented by the law firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon “which is currently analyzing the file and looking at all the options” following the judgment, according to spokesperson Mathieu Rompré.