Gilbert Rozon does not want to pay millions of dollars

Photo AGENCE QMI, TOMA ICZKOVITS
Gilbert Rozon, Founder of Just for laughs

Michael Nguyen

Tuesday, 9 January 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 9 January 2018 01:00

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Gilbert Rozon do not want to pay the millions of dollars that he claims a group of women who claim to have been assaulted by the man of affairs, he informed the court.

“The defendant Gilbert Rozon intends to contest the request for authorization to engage in collective action,” says the document filed in the folder by Lavery de Billy, the largest independent law firm in Quebec.

Instead of passing to the opposing lawyers a simple acknowledgement of receipt, Rozon wanted to give this response, which puts an end to the possibility of an amicable settlement in the civil case.

This is the first time he responds to the allegations made against him, although by the voice of his lawyers. In October, he had published a brief message, saying he was “shattered” by the accusations against him and announcing that he will retire from the Just for laughs Festival.

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Patricia Tulasne, an Actress and an alleged victim

“Sexual predator “

The following month, the grouping of The Brave had brought this class action against the former big boss of Just for laughs, who would have assaulted at least 20 women between 1982 and 2016.

It would, however, be ” the tip of the iceberg “, according to the lawyers, who believe that by the end of the proceedings, ” the group is made up of several tens of victims “.

In the query, the businessman is referred to as a “sexual predator” who allegedly ” took advantage of the silence, the fear, the shame and the inability to act of his victims to continue his predation “.

Trauma

The Courageous, which is part of the actress Patricia Tulasne, are seeking $ million in damages for the collective, but also of the individual amounts, depending on the after-effects of each victim alleged to be. And the grouping wants these punitive damages are ” truly exemplary “.

“In fact, Rozon acted with a reckless disregard for the rights of its victims, who deserve the denunciation of the more clear “, indicates the demand for collective action by the firms TJL and Kugler Kandestin.

In the case of Ms. Tulasne, who claims to have been sexually assaulted by Rozon in 1994, the lawyers claim to 400 000 $.

Since the alleged events, the actress said to have never been able to trust men or have a true loving relationship.

She was publicly denounced Rozon in the wake of the wave #MoiAussi, which shook Quebec and the world in the last few months.

Strong Message

Condemning Rozon to a lot of money, more than the “usual standards” in the civil lawsuits against individuals, lawyers argue that it would send a strong message to the population.

But the founder of Just for laughs intends to defend the allegations against him, with his three lawyers.

“It reserves all its rights “, concluded the lawyers in the response to the court, adding that it is not impossible that their client denies that this matter may be heard by the superior Court of Québec in the framework of a collective action.