Filipino Teen sues former Boss for Assault in Canada

A recent incident that happened in Ottawa, Ontario involving a 17 year old Filipino and his ex-boss has been turning heads lately after an alleged slapping incident that occurred at their workplace.

Kenneth Lezada, a grade 12 high school student who moved to Canada with his family back in 2015, has filed a lawsuit against his former manager Mohammad Omar after he allegedly slapped Kenneth while working at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen at Montreal Road back in August of 2016.

Lezada began working at the fast food restaurant since October of 2015 as a cashier. He began his work smoothly and efficiently with coworkers often giving him high praise for his diligence but since March of 2016, things started to change when his boss sent inappropriate pictures and messages to him through phone which lead up to the incident at the evening of August 8.

According to Lezada, the incident happened while he was bantering with Omar over an issue (the source of the issue has not been disclosed). The bantering escalated to the point where Omar asked Lezada if anybody still “loves” him or still likes to have him around at work, to which Lezada immediately answers and mentions the name of Omar’s ex-girlfriend who still actively works at the restaurant. Omar immediately got ticked off and allegedly slapped Lezada at the face.

The incident was reportedly witnessed by Omar’s present girlfriend who was visiting the moment it happened. Lezada cried and ran to the washroom right away but he added that Omar just laughed after the incident and still proceeded with continued banter while also making threats to fire him if continues to make “problems” at work.

The teenager voluntarily quit his job shortly after the occurrence and went straight to the police a week after to report the incident, to which Omar strongly denied involvement with the allegations. Lezada also went to see his family doctor who suspected that the teen might suffer from trauma because of the incident.
The boy filed a claim to Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and Omar reportedly did not participate in any of the board’s investigation and on December 5, Lezada had a private hearing at the Ottawa Courthouse to formally press assault charges and criminal harassment charges against Mohammad Omar. Omar was a no-show at another hearing that was held on January 11, 2017 but asked for court adjournment for three weeks. The next hearing is slated for February 1.

I can’t imagine and I can’t believe that I can do everything by myself. Like I went on all hearings by myself “no lawyer or any legal representation” I made a complaint and do all paper works by myself – Kenneth

Source: usa.inquirer.net