Quebec City ordered to hire colour blind firefighter, pay him $110,000 after refusing him a job

Quebec City has been ordered to pay a man more than $100,000 in damages for discrimination by refusing him as a candidate for a firefighter position because he is colour blind.

Sébastien Samson-Thibault, who was already working as a firefighter for several years for the City of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., applied for his dream job in Quebec City in 2015. However, he was refused after filling out a medical questionnaire in which he indicated he had difficulty distinguishing between the colours red and green.

The city had argued that the ability to tell these colours apart was required for firefighters to do their jobs "safely and effectively," according to the judgment from Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal.

However, the ruling said these medical questions in the questionnaire from Medisys Health Group Inc. infringed his right "to be treated equally, without discrimination on the basis of disability," without performing an individualized assessment.

"Mr. Samson-Thibault has provided credible, logical and rational explanations that show that he is able to compensate for his disability through experience and compensatory means," the ruling said.

The tribunal ordered the city to pay $98,188 in material damages and $10,000 in moral damages. The city and co-defendant Medisys were also ordered to pay the complainant $2,500 in damages for moral prejudice.

The city is also being forced to hire him when a firefighter when a job becomes available, with all the rights and privileges of the position retroactive to Nov. 23, 2015.

The judgment noted that the questionnaire is no longer used by Medisys.

Quebec's human and youth rights commission represented Samson-Thibault in his complaint.

"The ruling also found that many of the questions included in the Medisys Health Group's medical questionnaire were discriminatory, as they asked for health information that was not based on the skills or qualifications required for the position," said the commission's president, Philippe-André Tessier, in a statement.

In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson for the City of Quebec said it, "acknowledges the ruling in this matter and will be analyzing the next steps to be taken. The City will not comment further on the situation."