Lancet Jades
03-06-2004, 03:07 PM
Grandfather sues city of Montreal over bar mitzvah gone terribly bad
Family seeks $70,000 for ruined party. It all started when the janitor absconded with all the ice and offered to sell it back
CHARLIE FIDELMANThe Gazette
Friday, March 05, 2004
http://media.canada.com/scripts/locate.asp?id=2967a8e4-ce61-4572-87f5-ade353b0d2b4Grandfather Peter Neumann invited 350 guests to a bar mitzvah bash for his grandson Alexander (centre) at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre in August. From right: Alexander's grandmother Marlene and father, Jeffrey Neumann, tried to make the best of an evening that "was a disaster from beginning to end."
CREDIT: COURTESY OF NEUMANN FAMILY
http://mirror.canada.com/images/s.gifADVERTISEMENThttp://mirror.canada.com/images/s.gif http://ad.ca.doubleclick.net/N3081/ad/ccn.com/mon/news/story;kw=ccstorybox;loc=storyb ox;sz=250x250;kw=mon;kw=news;s tile=4;ord=9? ("")They knew it wouldn't be the perfect bar mitzvah celebration when the piano player collapsed with a heart attack.
They knew it when guests twice got stuck in the elevator - as did a rescue firefighter - and the janitor arrived with the key too late to be of any help.
But perhaps the first warning came earlier in the day, when the janitor absconded with all the party ice and belligerently offered to sell it back.
"If it wasn't so tragic it would be a comedy," said Pierrefonds pediatrician Peter Neumann, who is suing the city of Montreal for $70,000 for ruining his grandson Alexander's party at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre in August.
When Neumann invited 350 guests, hired musicians and two caterers - Chinese and Italian - he was hoping to create a memorable event, but not as a farce.
The dancing had just started when a janitor, whom Neumann described as "drunk as a skunk," suddenly decided the party was over at 10:30 p.m. even though the hall was rented until 2 a.m.
"We couldn't serve the food," Neumann recalled. "It was a disaster from beginning to end."
The janitor was allegedly disciplined on five separate occasions before last August's party, the suit filed in Quebec Court this week claims.
The janitor has since been fired.
Pierrefonds/Senneville borough Mayor Monique Worth confirmed the janitor was let go but refused further comment while the matter "is before the courts."
Neumann and his family had been setting up for the party since 9 a.m., leaving an ice machine full of cubes when the janitor came on duty at noon.
When they returned three hours later, the ice machine was empty and the janitor had consumed seven drinks. The bartender said the janitor was mistaken for a guest.
The missing ice was located in a padlocked freezer. But the janitor refused to hand it over, offering to sell it instead.
Neumann sent his son, Dr. Jeffrey Neumann, to round up 20 bags of ice at local dépanneurs.
At 7:30 p.m., with washrooms empty of toilet paper and towels (and the janitor nowhere to be seen), the host sent one of his guests to get toilet paper from his house nearby.
The janitor was spotted at the bar drinking bloody Caesars at
9 p.m. but disappeared from view when confronted about drinking.
That's when the elevators malfunctioned, trapping several guests, including a handicapped man, between floors.
A guest called the fire department, which forced open the doors. Later, a firefighter got stuck in the same elevator.
"I had a paraplegic stuck in an elevator with panic attacks, and when it's all over, the drunk appears with keys to open the elevator doors," Neumann said.
Just after 10 p.m., the janitor informed the bartender and the caterers anyone caught in the building after midnight would be locked in "because he was the boss, he had the keys and he lived in Gatineau," Neumann stated.
That's when the piano player collapsed with chest pain. His heart had stopped beating.
The janitor seemed confused about where to find a first aid kit or a phone. Panicked guests called for an ambulance, but no one, including the janitor, remembered the civic address of the centre.
Someone ran outside to read the numbers on the door.
Meanwhile, Neumann père et fils resuscitated the musician. One pumped his chest, the other gave him mouth to mouth. He was alive but unconscious when the ambulance arrived.
By then the party was a shambles. The caterers and the other musicians had left.
But even as a dozen guests helped clear tables, the janitor refused to provide trolleys or to open storage space for dishes - while continuing his threats about vacating the building by midnight, or else.
Neumann said he'd have settled for an apology and some compensation for the cost of the $30,000 party gone bad.
But after the borough of Pierrefonds/Senneville sent an insurance adjuster to take a report, Neumann said officials simply
ignored the matter.
"I sued because I had no other choice," he said. "I've been waiting for an answer for six months."
The janitor couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
cfidelman@thegazette.canwest.c om
Family seeks $70,000 for ruined party. It all started when the janitor absconded with all the ice and offered to sell it back
CHARLIE FIDELMANThe Gazette
Friday, March 05, 2004
http://media.canada.com/scripts/locate.asp?id=2967a8e4-ce61-4572-87f5-ade353b0d2b4Grandfather Peter Neumann invited 350 guests to a bar mitzvah bash for his grandson Alexander (centre) at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre in August. From right: Alexander's grandmother Marlene and father, Jeffrey Neumann, tried to make the best of an evening that "was a disaster from beginning to end."
CREDIT: COURTESY OF NEUMANN FAMILY
http://mirror.canada.com/images/s.gifADVERTISEMENThttp://mirror.canada.com/images/s.gif http://ad.ca.doubleclick.net/N3081/ad/ccn.com/mon/news/story;kw=ccstorybox;loc=storyb ox;sz=250x250;kw=mon;kw=news;s tile=4;ord=9? ("")They knew it wouldn't be the perfect bar mitzvah celebration when the piano player collapsed with a heart attack.
They knew it when guests twice got stuck in the elevator - as did a rescue firefighter - and the janitor arrived with the key too late to be of any help.
But perhaps the first warning came earlier in the day, when the janitor absconded with all the party ice and belligerently offered to sell it back.
"If it wasn't so tragic it would be a comedy," said Pierrefonds pediatrician Peter Neumann, who is suing the city of Montreal for $70,000 for ruining his grandson Alexander's party at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre in August.
When Neumann invited 350 guests, hired musicians and two caterers - Chinese and Italian - he was hoping to create a memorable event, but not as a farce.
The dancing had just started when a janitor, whom Neumann described as "drunk as a skunk," suddenly decided the party was over at 10:30 p.m. even though the hall was rented until 2 a.m.
"We couldn't serve the food," Neumann recalled. "It was a disaster from beginning to end."
The janitor was allegedly disciplined on five separate occasions before last August's party, the suit filed in Quebec Court this week claims.
The janitor has since been fired.
Pierrefonds/Senneville borough Mayor Monique Worth confirmed the janitor was let go but refused further comment while the matter "is before the courts."
Neumann and his family had been setting up for the party since 9 a.m., leaving an ice machine full of cubes when the janitor came on duty at noon.
When they returned three hours later, the ice machine was empty and the janitor had consumed seven drinks. The bartender said the janitor was mistaken for a guest.
The missing ice was located in a padlocked freezer. But the janitor refused to hand it over, offering to sell it instead.
Neumann sent his son, Dr. Jeffrey Neumann, to round up 20 bags of ice at local dépanneurs.
At 7:30 p.m., with washrooms empty of toilet paper and towels (and the janitor nowhere to be seen), the host sent one of his guests to get toilet paper from his house nearby.
The janitor was spotted at the bar drinking bloody Caesars at
9 p.m. but disappeared from view when confronted about drinking.
That's when the elevators malfunctioned, trapping several guests, including a handicapped man, between floors.
A guest called the fire department, which forced open the doors. Later, a firefighter got stuck in the same elevator.
"I had a paraplegic stuck in an elevator with panic attacks, and when it's all over, the drunk appears with keys to open the elevator doors," Neumann said.
Just after 10 p.m., the janitor informed the bartender and the caterers anyone caught in the building after midnight would be locked in "because he was the boss, he had the keys and he lived in Gatineau," Neumann stated.
That's when the piano player collapsed with chest pain. His heart had stopped beating.
The janitor seemed confused about where to find a first aid kit or a phone. Panicked guests called for an ambulance, but no one, including the janitor, remembered the civic address of the centre.
Someone ran outside to read the numbers on the door.
Meanwhile, Neumann père et fils resuscitated the musician. One pumped his chest, the other gave him mouth to mouth. He was alive but unconscious when the ambulance arrived.
By then the party was a shambles. The caterers and the other musicians had left.
But even as a dozen guests helped clear tables, the janitor refused to provide trolleys or to open storage space for dishes - while continuing his threats about vacating the building by midnight, or else.
Neumann said he'd have settled for an apology and some compensation for the cost of the $30,000 party gone bad.
But after the borough of Pierrefonds/Senneville sent an insurance adjuster to take a report, Neumann said officials simply
ignored the matter.
"I sued because I had no other choice," he said. "I've been waiting for an answer for six months."
The janitor couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
cfidelman@thegazette.canwest.c om