Quebec waiter wins compensation in age-discrimination case


The waiter said his boss told him he was too old and she wanted to increase sales by putting a young waitress in one of his slots.

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A waiter in a bar who claimed his employer reduced his hours because of his age and gender has won his case in front of Quebec’s labor tribunal.

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The Tribunal administratif du travail ordered the bar to compensate the man, who had worked as a waiter for 28 years.

He had been working Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, until his boss took him off the Wednesday shift. The waiter said she told him he was too old and she wanted to increase sales by putting a young waitress in that slot.

The waiter said half of his earnings came from the Wednesday shift.

His employer testified that she had removed him from the shift because his sales were too low and she wanted to increase revenues.

Feeling “distraught and unhappy,” the waiter resigned in October 2019.

In his complaint to the labor tribunal, he argued the shift change amounted to a constructive dismissal because it substantially reduced his hours and pay.

The court ordered the bar to pay him the amount he had lost in salary and benefits since it altered his schedule on May 22, 2019, plus interest, within 10 days.


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