Fasken represented the defendants, Centre du Camion Gamache inc. (“CCG”) and Richard Gamache (“Mr. Gamache”) in a Superior Court case against Luc Lareau (“Mr. Lareau”).
Mr. Lareau was a very successful truck salesman who became Director of sales of CCG. Mr. Lareau worked for CCG for over twenty years. In 2013, Mr. Lareau left on a sick leave which lasted more than a year. Upon his return in 2014, Mr. Lareau was presented with a new contract of employment and new conditions of employment, as the Company had gone through a reorganization in his absence. Mr. Lareau signed a new contract of employment through which he would become a salesman.
Over the course of the following months, Mr. Lareau contested several policies and eventually contested the modifications to his working conditions, including the fact that he had been demoted from Director of Sales to salesman – despite having signed a new contract of employment to that effect. Mr. Lareau finally resigned and filed a complaint alleging having been constructively dismissed. Mr. Lareau’s claims amounted to over $2 million.
This case was part of a judicial saga between the parties, as Mr. Lareau was also involved in an agricultural land company with the owners of CCG. The parties had taken part, over the previous years, in a commercial arbitration regarding the parties’ rights in the company. The arbitration panel’s decision was rendered during the Superior Court’s seven (7) day hearing, where CCG (also represented by Fasken) succeeded.
This decision allowed the Superior Court to reiterate the importance of a plaintiff being able to prove having met the applicable criteria in constructive dismissal cases. Mr. Lareau’s agreement to the modification to his working conditions proved fatal to his cause. Furthermore, the Court noted that Mr. Lareau appeared to distort facts occurring at CCG, and had planned his resignation – with his lawyer’s help –several months before eventually resigning.
