MONTREAL (CP) — Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered a restaurant in Victoriaville to rehire a waitress let go for allegedly having a bad attitude and for not smiling enough.
In a decision released Jan. 29, restaurant Coco Frutti was also ordered to pay Caroline Daunais $30,000 in lost wages and interest.
Daunais claimed to the tribunal she was fired in April 2016 after asking for back pay owed to her.
The restaurant owner told the tribunal she was let go “because of her bad attitude and for not smiling enough.”
The owner added “everyone had problems with her” and with regards to back pay, the owner said she was the only person out of 35 employees who had complained.
Tribunal judge Christian Drolet didn’t recognize the restaurant’s excuse as serious, finding instead they used it as a pretext to terminate the only employee who asked for back pay — notably the day before she was fired.
He ordered Coco Frutti to reinstate her, pay her $28,240 in lost wages, and about $2,000 in interest.