WI Art teacher and LBPSB sued for $1.4 million

By Chelsey St-Pierre

The art teacher from Westwood Junior High who placed his students’ artwork online for sale along with the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) are being sued by parents for $1.4 million and the number keeps going up as more families continue to join the lawsuit. The LBPSB, the school’s administration and the art teacher, Mario Perron have all remained silent and unapologetic in the face of the accusations despite the incident having made international headlines.

Joel DeBellefeuille, the parent who originally launched the lawsuit, told The Suburban after the demand letter was sent, that his son along with other students were called down to the principal’s office to be questioned during school hours, while the administration continues to ignore parents’ demands for answers. “The school should not be questioning these kids without a parent present while on the doorstep of a lawsuit. They say that they can’t comment to parents but are systematically calling down students. They are scrambling trying to figure out what to do, but doing all the wrong things. They are completely shutting parents out, yet have the nerve to interrogate the children without a parent or guardian present. It’s insane.”

The artwork produced in Perron’s classroom was part of an assignment that he asked students to complete. The online sale of the items was discovered by students last week and reported to parents. DeBellefeuille immediately reached out to the school’s principal who refused to give him any information as to its intentions on how to remediate the situation. The school board also refused to respond. Upon receiving the demand letter, LBPSB’s legal advisor contacted DeBellefeuille to tell him that the file has been sent to their insurance company. “It’s so blatantly obvious what this guy did, and an apology would go a long way. No steps have been taken to appease parents,” he told The Suburban.

An online search conducted by The Suburban as well as by the parents’ legal counsel revealed that the artwork of 96 students was uploaded for sale with print-on-demand options for 31 different products, such as cups and t-shirts.

“The volume of items sold through this scheme is immense, totalling 2,976 items, constituting 2,976 distinct violations of intellectual property laws,” the demand letter sent by the students’ families’ lawyer reads.

Parents are also concerned about the confidentiality and safety of their students as the artwork produced was a style of portraits of themselves or their peers entitled “creepy portraits” and the names of the artists were placed online with their respective creations.

The school principal, Anna Haller, however, only mentioned her concern for the privacy of school staff in response to an e-mail sent by DeBellefeuille requesting her help with the matter prior to his decision to sue. “Thank you for your email. The matter is currently under investigation. All matters pertaining to LBPSB employees remain confidential” was the total extent of her e-mail to him. n

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