In March 2006, John Rooney called Jules Bertiboni in response to a newspaper ad for an apartment to rent. Mr Rooney subsequently claimed that Mr Bertiboni called him a “tapette” (”fag”) on the phone.

Rooney says he became depressed and withdrawn after the alleged incident and complained to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. Mr Bertiboni did not recall the conversation, but insisted he is not prejudiced against homosexuals and has had homosexual tenants in the past whom he treated with respect.

Last month, the tribunal ordered Bertiboni to pay $4000 to Rooney, even though Rooney had no corroboration for his account of the telephone conversation.

Coolopolis has the details of that and another questionable Quebec HRT decision.

The text of the judgment is posted here (French only).

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Tags: Chutzpah, Civil liberties, Human Rights Commissions, Quebec
Filed under: Canada, Canadian Politics and Government
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