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MONTREAL – A Quebec judge denounced the “offensive and racist behavior” of a man and ordered him to pay $ 6,000 in damages to his elderly neighbor who filed a human rights complaint against him after reporting harassment that escalated into flat car tires and a violent break-in.
The neighborhood dispute began in 2016 and ended last month with the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal ruling in favor of the woman, who lives in Vaudreuil-Dorion, just west of the island of Montreal.
She alleged that the neighbor violated her rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, namely the right to dignity and the right to human rights without exclusion based on race.
In her written decision rendered last month, Judge Doris Thibault said the man “knew full well that his racist remarks and behavior would hurt and humiliate [the woman]â€, Who is of Haitian origin.
The incidents started with flat tires and scratches on his car. On the advice of the police, she installed an alarm system and surveillance cameras on her property.
The neighbor responded by purchasing his own cameras, except his were fake Dollarama cameras, according to the ruling. They had a flashing red light to give the illusion of being real, and were pointed at his house.
In another incident in June 2018, the man was driving erratically behind her. When he passed her, his passenger rolled down the window and they both shouted at him “houba houba,†which, according to local slang, is a term that can be used to refer to a Neanderthal.
She contacted the police again after this incident “because she was afraid”. It was then that the two parties brought in their lawyers to resolve their problems amicably. It didn’t last long.
The conflict escalated on September 16, 2018, when the woman returned from church to find her home had been broken into and ransacked, including “stab-like marks” on her stainless steel refrigerator, according to the decision.
After calling the police about the burglary, she came out and spoke Creole. According to the ruling, the man heard the woman speak as he left his house and shouted at her “you baboon, learn to speak Frenchâ€.
Two months later, she filed a formal complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal.
The man denied the allegations against him, but the court did not accept. The judge felt that he often made “contradictory†and “implausible†statements in court in defense of his behavior.
The ruling states have taunted the neighbor to attack “a woman’s integrity, her core values, her ethnicity, her race and her language, in fact everything that defines her as a person.”
The man was ordered to pay the woman $ 5,000 in moral damages and $ 1,000 in punitive damages.
Afterwards, the man filed a complaint with the police, claiming she was guilty of animal cruelty by alleging that she almost hit her cat with her car. The police dismissed his complaint.
In another retaliatory attempt, he took her to small claims court for $ 15,000 for false allegations and stalking.
On March 20, 2020, the court also dismissed this case.
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