Manager Fined $15,000 for Providing Falsified Documents to an Employment Standards Officer

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Convicted: Sameer Devgon, the manager of a Boston Pizza franchise in Pembroke, Ontario

Location of Workplace: Boston Pizza, 1108B Pembroke Street East, Pembroke, Ontario

Description of Offences: The defendant provided false or misleading information to an employment standards officer, contrary to section 131(1) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), constituting an offence under section 132 of the Act.

Date of Offences: August 4, 2023

Date of Convictions: March 30, 2026

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Pembroke, the defendant was fined $15,000 by Justice of Peace the Jennifer L. Grant; Crown Counsel was Evan Schiller.
• The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

• On July 19, 2023, an employment standards officer was investigating a complaint involving an employee at a Boston Pizza franchise, relating to entitlements under the ESA.
• During the investigation, the defendant identified themselves as the restaurant's manager and asserted that the employee was not entitled to termination pay due to wilful misconduct.
• On July 25, 2023, the employment standards officer issued a demand for records requiring the defendant to provide documents supporting their position.
• On August 4, 2023, the defendant provided documents to the employment standards officer including complaint forms from customers and a co-worker about the employee.
• Subsequent inquiries by the employment standards officer established that the alleged complainants had not made the complaints; the documents provided by the defendant were falsified.
• Providing false or misleading information to an employment standards officer violated section 131(1) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), which is also an offence under section 132 of the Act

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