UPDATED: Includes statement from Esso
MONTREAL – When Patrick Dubois pulled into a gas station in Ville Saint-Laurent, he was blocked at the pump and he’s convinced that the colour of his skin had everything to do with it.
Dubois told Global News that despite the fact that it was broad daylight and every other customer he could see was pumping before paying, he was asked to pay up front.
When he asked the attendant if there was a problem, Dubois said that she responded, “Uh no, it’s just that I couldn’t see you, you were too black.”
The 32-year-old asked the attendant to repeat what she had said.
“She said, ‘Ya, you’re truck is black, you’re all dressed up in black and you’re too black. I couldn’t see you, so I blocked the pump. Could you pay please?’”
Dubois did agree to pay up front, but once he left he called Esso to file a formal complaint.
“Then I got a letter by mail two weeks after saying thanks for your complaint, hope to see you again.”
Dubois felt Esso was trying to brush him off, so he stepped up his fight for justice and filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal.
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He’s now asking for an official apology and half a million dollars in compensation.
“I’m not only doing it for myself only, I’m doing it for my kids,” he said.
The woman behind the cash that day was the owner’s wife Hilda El Ramouz.
She told Global news that the incident was a huge misunderstanding.
“I explained to him that it wasn’t because he was black, it was because I couldn’t see the pump.”
She says blocking the pump was a question of safety. “I have to be able to see clients at the pump.”
This is important for safety to ensure people aren’t on the phone or smoking a cigarette while pumping their gas.
Leanne Dohy, the media relations advisor at Imperiol Oil Canada confirmed to Global News that Esso has a policy that attendants need to see a customer before activating a pump.
“Imperiol Oil gives their retailers ‘operating best practices’ related to safety and security and we recommend that attendants have a clear-sight line to the pump and be able to see the customer before activating the pump.”
She also noted that these regulations are in place to assure compliance with laws in Quebec regarding proper fuel dispensing.
According to the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), Patrick Dubois is not alone.
Fo Niemi, the co-founder and executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said that these are not isolated incidents.
“There was another English-speaking black man in his 50s who went to a gas station, also in Ville St-Laurent not far from there and basically he was asked to pre-pay.”
A complaint has been filed with the Human Rights Commission for being blocked at the pump at another Esso station in the same city.
Niemi described these incidents as clear cases of racial discrimination and he questioned whether the practice was part of Esso’s policy.
The Esso station owner was furious and convinced Patrick Dubois just wants to make a quick buck.
“This makes me very angry – it’s just about the money,” Esso station owner, Said Abou Jawde told Global News.
However, Dubois, a father of two, insists that it is all about fighting racial profiling.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up in a society like this.”
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