Man sues airline for 12,000$ over lack of French service

[Ickorus]

Whilst the man sounds like a money grubbing bastard to me I don't know how it is in Quebec, are there people there who only speak french or does everyone speak both languages or even just English?

I mean if there is the chance that people there only speak French i'll have to say he's justified in pointing out the fact even if it does rub me the wrong way just saying that.

Just hear me out for a second, imagine if you were a customer for an Airline and none of the staff spoke your language despite it being a flight from a country where that language is common, you'd be a bit unhappy that you couldn't communicate with anybody else I imagine, I know I would be.

Still think the guy is a twat though, it should be some poor bastard who can't speak English that sues, not a money grubber.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Hmm, that must be Scott, I hear he's a douche. Oh wait he's French Canadian, that requires I whip out this video to explain his actions.


So remember kids, there's no Canada like French Canada, and if you speak English to someone there you'll have to pay $12k every innocent French Canada who's ear you sully with that damnable English.

 

[The Floating Nose]

I am from Québec too and i gotta admit. Yeah, it is true that they should provide a billangual service but damn...12 000 $ over a 7up ? That's exagerated. I mean, that's what i don't like about Québec i love our culture and everything but sometimes i get the impression the we are always trying to fart higher than our own ass and THAT'S what bugs me.

And trust me where i live (in region not in Quebec city or Montreal)....YOU DON'T WANT TO SPEAK ENGLISH oooooh no... im pretty sure just a fraction of the population speaks english and not very well.

 

[Ailia]

Whilst the man sounds like a money grubbing bastard to me I don't know how it is in Quebec, are there people there who only speak french or does everyone speak both languages or even just English?

I mean if there is the chance that people there only speak Frnch i'll have to say he's justified in pointing out the fact even if it does rub me the wrong way just saying that.

The official language is French, but they offer English classes so early on that most of the population is decently bilingual once they finish high-school, and can take extended classes if they want to go work in the government or simply to be more at ease with the language. Urban cities like Montréal do have a mix of languages; nowadays a good chunk of the population speaks only English, which actually helps the French-Québecois practice more.

The guy in the article is a government worker (which requires bilingualism) and said himself that he was very good in English, so he really shouldn't have had a problem (except for that bit where it is illegal to have non-bilingual stewardesses).

 

[HK_01]

Haha, I guess I'll fly with Swiss and afterwards sue them for lack of Italian, French, German or "Rätoromanisch", depending which they lack on that flight.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

See, I keep trying to convince you people that it's not JUST Americans that pull bullshit like this, but no one fucking believes me.

Stuff like this makes me lose faith in humanity...

Oh, stop whining. This guy doesn't represent humanity any more then YOU do, and thank god for that.[footnote]Not actually religious, just a figure of speech.[/footnote]

 

[Thumper17]

Well, they should legally be proficient in French. Who knows, a kid whos not that good at english could be flying somewhere for some reason and everyone could be stuck.

 

[Psykoma]

Haha, I guess I'll fly with Swiss and afterwards sue them for lack of Italian, French, German or "Rätoromanisch", depending which they lack on that flight.

To this quote and the others like it, does the swiss airline have a legal requirement to know those languages? Because like it or not, air canada does have the legal requirement to have customer service able to speak english and french.

In Canada:
Quebec is a francophone province, so institutions falling solely under Quebec law: only required to service in french.
New Brunswick is a bilingual province, so institutions falling solely under New Brunswick law: required to service in french and english.
All the other provinces are anglophone provinces, so institutions falling solely under any of their jurisdictions: only required to service in english.
*Federal* is bilingual, so any institution that falls under federal jurisdiction: required to service in both french and english.
afaik.

Whilst the man sounds like a money grubbing bastard to me I don't know how it is in Quebec, are there people there who only speak french or does everyone speak both languages or even just English?

I mean if there is the chance that people there only speak French i'll have to say he's justified in pointing out the fact even if it does rub me the wrong way just saying that.

There are people who speak exclusively french, they're mainly known as "separatists". It depends on where you are in the province, if you're in montreal I find that anyone is willing to speak english to you (I haven't had to use french since high school french classes almost a decade ago), quebec city is a bit stricter, and the "rural" areas are where you find the absolute francophones.

I will have to remember this the next time I travel to Quebec and the people there refuse to speak English to me.

If it's an institution governed by quebec law, they have no requirement to speak english or any language other than french.



I think the guy doing the lawsuit is a twat who just wanted some money, but I can't deny that he has the legal backing.

 

[Atheist.]

I always hated the assholes from Quebec that pretended they didn't understand English when they were being tourists down in Florida. Not saying everyone from there is an asshole, but quite a few of them seemed to scorn at us. Even though they were visiting us, a bit hypocritical, I must say.

 

[KennardKId5]

I guess he has a legal right to it, but he shouldn't have won. If he was allergic to something and they gave him it, that's different.

 

[Nekkie]

Well they did give him sprite instead of 7up, thats like asking for champagne and getting carbonated pee.

Not much to discuss tough this kind of crap happens on a daily basis, well atleast in 'merica.

 

[Sparrow]

"What a massive prick" is the first thing that came to mind. I'm not sure if there's actually anything else left to add.

 

[Naeo]

If he could speak English and French, why not just clear it up in English and avoid the whole mess?

Also, he basically sued for "you're doing it wrong".

 

[Araksardet]

Having grown up in Québec in a bilingual family, and having gone to francophone school, this does not surprise me one little bit. There are enough people in Québec with seething hatred for anything and everything that reeks of the "Anglo-Saxon" that it's a serious problem.

I agree that monolingual anglophones living permanently in Québec who can't be arsed to learn French are pains in the ass and frankly have more rights than they deserve, but as a *bilingual* child I got tons of shit from my peers for the mere fact that I ever spoke English without being forced to do so. In francophone schools, kids will pick on you, call you names and throw things at you if you speak English at home, even if you ALSO speak French at home, and you're automatically labelled an "Anglo-Saxon" or "English". Even the decent folk are somewhat affected; I've had acquaintances think I was just another Québécois, and then when they heard me speak English without a god-awful accent, they'd say "Oh, I didn't know you were English." Really? Tell me, how did you know my mother is from London?

So yeah, these kinds of pricks are all over the place, but they're still a minority. Don't let it tarnish their image - just like any country, most of the people in Québec are good people with reasonable expectations vis-à-vis foreigners; and for the most part, these expectations aren't at all too much to ask, and are a matter of courtesy and respect. If you live there, learn the language; if they are your clients, learn the language; if you're visiting, at least pretend to be trying to learn the language. It's just that the pricks there have extra reasons to feel self-entitled, and since their opinions are also politically correct in Québec and in general supported by the political culture and system there, nobody ever steps in to put them in their place - except "Anglo-Saxons", whom, of course, nobody takes seriously.

/rant born of childhood social trauma

 

[USSR]

Why suck it up and pout when we can sue.
Perfect sense.

 

[SinisterGehe]

OH GOD DAMN IT!

The stupidity from America is seeping into Canada. Now where are we supposed to run?

Also, I'm shocked he got paid any money. Is there really that big of a difference between 7Up and Sprite? I could, barely, see if he was allergic to cheese and got some on his food after he asked for it to be excluded but still.

Nah it is not the stupidity, it is the holes in the legal system. Example: In Finnish law there is a line in which it is stated that you are not allowed to ask more in compensations than what is required to compensate the damages. The man would at best gotten 1k or even less in Finland, the sue wouldn't even have gone trough here, since it is not illegal to not provide bilingual service (even tho Finland is bilingual), expect if the service provider is government.

It is not the stupidity, it is the flaws in legal system and assholes who abuse them. Fix the legal system and all be fine.

 

[Charli]

The man himself is bilingual but threw a fit when the flight attendant couldn't understand his French request for 7Up and brought him Sprite instead.

Really. REALLY.

Get over yourself. They're the same damn drink.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

He's technically correct, the best kind of correct.



I would hope they had to clearly demonstrate that the flight attendant brought him the wrong soda [b]solely[/b] because of the language barrier, and not because, say, the airline simply didn't carry the label he wanted.

Surely, that wasn't the case, right?

Yes, it is a petty thing to sue over, no doubt.

Then again, isn't it a petty thing to screw up on? I mean, if that's the law, and French-speaking Canadians aren't that hard to find, why didn't they just have a French-speaking attendant?

In summary, this whole thing is technically petty.