Nine women are suing the Just for Laughs festival founder, seeking a total of more than $14 million.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has denied a request from Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon in which he sought a delay in the trial where nine women are suing him in civil court for alleged sexual abuse.
A lawyer representing Rozon at the Montreal courthouse on Monday asked that the trial be delayed because of new legislation adopted by the Quebec government last week in the National Assembly. The lawyer said Rozon did not expect that the new legislation could be applicable to the trial that is starting on Monday. The new legislation, Bill 73, deals with how evidence can be interpreted in court, in particular “the myths and stereotypes” concerning rape, for example, whether a victim asked the aggressor to stop or if they remained in a relationship after the abuse.
Rozon’s lawyer said allowing the new legislation to apply to this trial would deny Rozon of a right to a fair trial because all preparation made for it was done before the Bill 73 became law.
Bruce Johnston, one of the lawyers representing the nine women, argued against the delay, which would have pushed the trial back to January. He said the plaintiffs and many witnesses planned the coming months around the trial and that it would be a major inconvenience to grant the delay. Johnston said some of the people who will testify cancelled surgeries to fit the court’s schedule.
Justice Chantale Tremblay agreed with the plaintiffs and ordered that the trial begin Monday.
Included among the women — who are seeking a total of more than $14 million from Rozon — is Annick Charette, who was the complainant in Rozon’s criminal trial held at the same courthouse a couple of years ago. Rozon was acquitted in that trial.