Sunwing party plane passengers fired, facing other repercussions at home

Some of the passengers of the now-infamous Sunwing "party plane" on Dec. 30 will be coming home to unhappy employers or worse, with at least two already fired.

Frédérique Dumas-Joyal is one of them, losing her job of several years at Quebec's financial markets authority, the AMF.

"She was fired," Sylvain Théberge, an AMF spokesperson, said Friday.

"The situation required it."

Dumas-Joyal was an information officer at the authority. According to her LinkedIn page, she began working there in 2017, and she has also studied law at Laval University.

She also spent some earlier years working in the hotel industry and is a popular figure in the Quebec social media world, with an Instagram page showing nights out, including, this week, exploits in Tulum, Mexico, with the group of fellow influencers and TV stars who flew there on a charter flight.

A picture of Dumas-Joyal circulated showing her wearing a bright red stretchy triangular cloth over her face on the trip, appearing to be underwear, in place of a mask.

She took down her Instagram account between Wednesday and Friday of this week and could not be reached for comment.

Théberge elaborated more on her firing to other media, saying that “the Authority learned with amazement the facts surrounding one of its employees. We dissociate ourselves completely from her actions and deplore the events that have occurred."

Most of the group of roughly 150 remain in Mexico, with Canadian airlines blocking them from buying return flights, saying they are a risk to passenger safety.

Some have contracted COVID-19 and are self-isolating in Mexico, and a small number have managed to return to Quebec.

REAL ESTATE AGENT LOSES HIS JOB

Dumas-Joyal is not the only one to face real-life consequences after videos and photos of the flight were published showing people drinking and partying in the aisles without masks.

Sutton-Quebec confirmed to CTV News on Friday that real estate agent Karl Bernard has been suspended "with no possibility to be reinstated."

The agency's CEO said the company had "no other option but to take immediate action" as soon as it was made aware of the situation. 

"The Sutton brand and the professionals behind the brand cannot endorse or be associated with any deviant or dangerous behaviour," CEO Julie Gaucher wrote in a statement.

"It is unfortunate that the lack of judgement and disrespect of one person can put at risk the reputation of a brand... that we have proudly built from scratch for the last 27 years, and tarnish the reputation of our Sutton brokers and our franchisees, which in no way can be associate with this kind of behaviour."

Two of the young women on the trip are also aspiring pilots, frequently posting about their training in Longueuil and Lachute, respectively. Transport Canada says it is looking into whether this week's events could affect their certification.

Several mainstream media personalities were also present, including people who have appeared on two Quebec reality shows, Occupation Double and L'Ile de L'Amour.

A spokesperson for L'Ile de L'Amour, which airs on TVA, said the three women who appeared in Season One and are involved in the Sunwing situation were not scheduled to participate in the upcoming season and the show has no further ties with them.

"The association with all Islanders in Season 1 is completed and ended, including the three ex-Islanders involved in the Sunwing flight," said spokesperson Junior Bombardier.