This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Quebec’s Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Quebec comedian, Mike Ward, to pay over $35,000 for jokes he made at the expense of a former child singer with disabilities, Jérémy Gabriel. According to the tribunal, Mr Ward violated Mr Gabriel’s rights when he targeted the boy during part of his Mike Ward s’eXpose comedy tour of 2010-13.
Born with a complex of ear and face malformations called Treacher Collins syndrome, the tribunal ordered the comedian to pay Mr. Gabriel $25,000 in moral damages and $10,000 in punitive damages along with $5,000 in moral damages and $2,000 in punitive damages for his mother, Sylvie Gabriel. The complaint filed by the family at the Quebec Human Rights Commission asked for a total of $80,000 as it claimed that Mr. Ward’s jokes about the boy were an affront to his dignity.
The decision written by tribunal’s judge, Scott Hughes, mentioned that “the tribunal is convinced that Mr. Ward could not have been unaware of the consequences of his jokes on Jérémy.” Whereas on the other hand, Ward’s lawyer, Julius Grey, has decided already to appeal the decision. In a twitter post, Mr. Ward stated that “even Rocky lost the first one, we’re gonna appeal.” Meanwhile, now 19-year-old Mr. Gabriel stated during a news conference one day after the decision was announced that “for me, personally, [the decision] was a big relief. At the same time, it was a surprise.”
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