Good Food evening shift workers in Montreal get curfew tickets despite having employer letters

Employees who finished a late shift at the Marché Good Food online meal kit factory in St. Laurent got tickets for breaking curfew last night even though they had a letter from their employer. 

A source tells yourstory@cjad.com that the workers had just gotten off the evening shift and were waiting at the bus stop just after 8 p.m. when police ticketed them for being out after curfew.

Marché Good Food confirms to CJAD 800 that they were made aware of the incident where three of their employees were issued tickets "even though they presented their essential worker letter" to the officer. 

"We have reached out to the employees and are gathering further information to better understand what happened and what next steps will be," said Roslane Aouameur, director of financial planning and investor relations.

Lawyer Avi Levy with Ticket911 - which usually contests traffic tickets - said several people have been calling them about the curfew rules, including a few who have gotten tickets.

"If you have a valid reason for being out past the curfew, then you should not be ticketed. This gentleman seems to have a valid reason, seems to have a letter on top of it all, which is a little surprising," said Levy.

Levy said the cases they are handling so far include people who got delayed and inadvertently violated curfew - including a man who got stuck in traffic on his way back home from Ontario after caring for a parent.

"The majority of people seem to be out for a legitimate reason and sort of get caught by this curfew, either because time got away from them or they couldn't get to where they needed to be in time," said Levy.

Montreal police said they can't comment on specific cases but that officers always use discretion and make the necessary checks before handing out tickets or offence reports, adding that, as always, people have to justify being out during curfew.