The civil trial against the founder of Juste pour Rire resumed on Monday with the testimony of Anne-Marie Charette, now filming location director. Mme Charette accuses Mr. Rozon of having attacked her in a hotel room in 1987.
Posted at 2:36 p.m.
Anne-Marie Charette, who was 25 that year, had been hired as communications assistant by Richard Bleau. She was to promote the group of comedians Les Monstres de l’humour, which included Michel Courtemanche and JiCi Lauzon, among others.
She told Judge Chantal Tremblay, who is presiding over this rare civil trial for sexual violence, that she had no professional connection with Gilbert Rozon. “I was Richard Bleau’s assistant, and it was François Rozon, our boss. »
However, during the festival, in the summer of 1987, she said she received a call from Gilbert Rozon, asking her to come and bring him “an important file” to his room at the Hôtel du Parc, in Montreal, where many guest artists were accommodated. Mme Charette, who was not comfortable with this request, and who was busy with her own files, allegedly refused. “I told him I couldn’t. »
But according to his testimony, Mr. Rozon called back a few times subsequently, each time becoming more insistent, even authoritarian. “At the last call, he told me: Listen, I’m your boss, you have to come and bring me this file. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
In 1987, Anne-Marie Charette worked as a communications assistant for Richard Bleau.
Faced with this particular situation, Mme Charette allegedly went to see her immediate superior, Richard Bleau, to ask him what she should do. Mr. Bleau allegedly replied: “If Gilbert asks you, you have to go. »
Anne-Marie Charette – who is not related to the other plaintiff Annick Charette – would have presented herself at the Hôtel du Parc, with the said file in her backpack. “I had an inner conflict, but at the same time, I wanted to do well,” she told Judge Tremblay.
Mme Charette is not sure whether she went through reception – to find out Mr. Rozon’s room number – but she remembers taking the elevator, going up and knocking on his door.
The rest is nebulous in the mind of Mme Cart. “I remember being pushed inside, onto the bed. I remember Mr. Rozon above me. I see his eyes again too, which scared me very much. »
Mme Charette does not remember being raped. Instead, she spoke of an assault. She described leaving the room in a panic, and running out of the room. “I remember my clothes were undone. I had to tuck my blouse into my skirt. When I found myself in the hotel lobby, I had the impression that everyone knew. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Gilbert Rozon, upon his arrival at the courtroom Monday
A few weeks later, Anne-Marie Charette learned that she was losing her job, but without being given any reasons, she said. It was Richard Bleau, her immediate superior, who told her: “My beautiful redhead with green eyes, I replaced you with a blonde with blue eyes. »
This blonde with blue eyes was called Guylaine Courcelles, who is also suing Mr. Rozon, and who told Judge Tremblay of her sexual assault last week.
Following her alleged assault, Anne-Marie Charette, who is seeking 1.29 million in punitive damages, explained that she returned to studies. “For two years, I was not well. I had anxiety attacks. I told myself that the job market was not for me. I went back to university and did a certificate in screenwriting. »
The event would have affected her behavior with her male bosses, she argued. “I wasn’t able to be alone in a boss’s office… I wasn’t comfortable in seductive relationships either, even if sometimes these are things that happen, which are normal . »
Mme Charette explained that it was the public outing of director Lyne Charlebois, in the wake of the #metoo movement, which gave her the impetus to denounce Mr. Rozon and file a complaint with the police. The Les Courageuses group would also have “done him a lot of good”.
“I found my speech again with the strength of a group,” she explained. With girls who had experienced similar things. »
In her cross-examination, Gilbert Rozon’s lawyer, Me Mélanie Morin, returned again to the exchanges of Mme Charette with the other plaintiffs, in particular with Guylaine Courcelles, suggesting that their stories could have been contaminated.
She also established that Anne-Marie Charette had no memory of what happened in the room, and that Mr. Rozon had not prevented her from leaving the premises.
The civil trial against Gilbert Rozon continues all week. Tuesday, Mary Sicari will speak.
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