Montrealer settles with employer after years of fighting racism – Montreal | 24CA News
Bienné Blémur says he doesn’t really feel vindicated.
Instead, he feels at peace now that he’s reached a settlement along with his former employer.
Blémur has been in a authorized battle for six years with the Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau (SPJD), a paramunicipal company, and his former union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
It stems from incidents he skilled as a head stage rigger at Jean Drapeau Park in 2016, when he was the goal of racial slurs — together with being referred to as the N-word.
Blémur says that after two years of mistreatment, he give up in 2018 after submitting a number of grievances.
But he continued to pursue each his former employer and the union within the courts.
“The employer has agreed to settle because the employer has seen the light,” mentioned Fo Niemi, government director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), whose group has been serving to Blémur.
“More importantly, the employer has recognized systemic racism and that Mr. Blémur has been the victim of systemic racism and all that it entails in terms of consequences.”
Niemi says within the settlement settlement, the park’s administration acknowledged that Blémur was “the victim of vexatious discriminatory conduct leading to negative psychological repercussions” and it additionally acknowledged the existence of systemic racism.
He says the settlement units a historic precedent that each employer ought to bear in mind.
“Blémur has basically started a chain of events that we hope will become a template — for not only the City of Montreal, with so many complaints of racism from its racialized workers, but for all the other workers here,” mentioned Niemi.
Though it is a victory for Blémur, his authorized combat nonetheless isn’t over.
In 2021, Quebec’s labour tribunal concluded that his former union demonstrated grave negligence in his case.
The union has since filed for a evaluation of the choice in Superior Court.
The case will likely be heard in 2024.
Global News has reached out to the SPJD and the IATSE for remark, however has but to listen to again.
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