Parents file $1.5-million lawsuit after teacher allegedly tried to sell students’ artworks online

Article content

The parents of 10 students at a Montreal-area junior high school have launched a $1.575-million lawsuit against their school’s art teacher alleging he tried to sell the students’ artwork and merchandise emblazoned with their drawings online without their knowledge.

The lawsuit also names the Lester B. Pearson School Board, arguing that as the teacher’s employer it had a responsibility to check his social media profiles and other professional activities before hiring him and is responsible for wrongful acts carried out while under its employ.

Article content

Article content

The students in Grades 7 and 8 at Westwood Junior High School in St-Lazare discovered in early February that their art teacher, Mario Perron, was listing for sale thousands of copies of items, including mugs, tote bags, iPhone cases, T-shirts and towels, featuring their artwork, the lawsuit states. The students said they were doing an internet search to look up their teacher’s art and found their own work listed under his profile on websites selling artwork.

The prices of the 2,976 listed items ranged from US$9.50 to US$113, the lawsuit says.

“Perron used the work of 96 of his students and reproduced them on 31 different items to put them on sale and make a personal profit,” the lawsuit reads. “To cap it off, the accused Perron, for commercial purposes, specified the name of the child as the artist, which would easily allow them to be identified on public platforms, especially since the artworks in question are portraits.”

The 10 parents are claiming $5,000 for each of the 31 items they say were put on sale with their children’s drawings, for a total of $155,000 each. They are also asking for $10,000 each in punitive damages on the basis that Perron “clearly planned out his actions and was in a position of authority over minors.”

Article content

Article content

Under the Canadian Copyright Act, damages of between $500 and $20,000 can be sought if the infringements are for commercial purposes.

The parents are also requesting their children’s artworks be taken down from any websites and that a report of any sales be transmitted, and are asking for a written letter of apology.

“Mr. Perron did not take into consideration the children’s confidentiality when he posted and then attempted to sell their drawings online without the consent of the children, the parents or the school board,” said Joel DeBellefeuille, one of the parents filing the lawsuit. “This is extremely troubling and very concerning.

“Here we are in a digital age, where families and parents are there to scrutinize everything that our children are looking at, but who would have thought that it should have been the parents scrutinizing the teacher?”

Legal letters were sent to Perron and the school board in February and March, requesting $1.75 million in payments. When those went unanswered, parents filed the lawsuit Friday in Quebec Superior Court. The teacher and school board have 15 days to respond to the lawsuit.

Article content

The parents’ allegations have not been tested in court.

Edith Liard, who is also among those filing the lawsuit, said the school and its teacher broke their trust.

“My daughter loves art, always has been into art, and this year after everything that happened, she said to me, ‘I don’t think I’ll do art next year,’” she said.

An administrator at Westwood Junior High School said Monday that Perron was not presently at the school. She could not say if he had been let go, referring all questions to the school board. His name has been removed from the school’s staff list online.

Perron did not respond to previous messages seeking comment.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board said Monday it does not comment on internal investigations or human resources issues. In February, it issued a statement saying the board was taking the allegations very seriously and an investigation was underway.

The artworks in question were created by 96 students for their art class with Perron. The works include portraits the students made of themselves in the style of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat for a class project assigned by Perron called Creepy Portrait.

rbruemmer@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content