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This is really a vindication for him

Rogers fired Nassr shortly after. Another company hired him within weeks, but, he later testified, the fallout of the arrest tarnished his life in numerous ways.

Nassr says he “went into hibernation” for two years. His relationship faltered and he was beset by intimacy and sleep problems. He stopped talking to ex-colleagues and no longer went to church, where people whispered about him, and to the gym. He gained 60 pounds before losing 100 pounds. He experienced panic attacks at work, where he inadvertently discovered his old employer’s role in his arrest when the former Rogers investigator brought it up.

In his decision, Lussier opined that Nassr’s arrest was unjustified because officers should have served him with a summons rather than detaining him. He also wrote that Rogers abused its right to inform the police about a suspected crime by requesting Nassr be arrested in a “show of force.”

Reflecting on the sale of the BlackBerry Torch that prompted Nassr’s arrest, Lussier wrote that it remains “far from clear that the phone was ‘stolen.’” Nassr said he’d advised an acquaintance who was waiting on a late delivery of a Rogers phone to order another phone and return the first one when it arrived, contending that he sold the first phone via Kijiji to cover the ensuing cancellation fee.

Lussier instructed Rogers to pay Nassr $45,000 in moral damages and $25,000 in punitive damages, plus $5,000 over a counterclaim filed by Rogers that he deemed abusive.

In the years since Nassr’s arrest, Rogers has enacted a policy to prevent police from entering its workplaces to speak with employees.

“We regret how the situation unfolded eight years ago, as it does not reflect how we handle such matters and we took steps years ago to ensure this does not occur,” Rogers said in a statement.

Montreal police did not respond by deadline to requests for comment.

One of Nassr’s lawyers, Muriel Librati, meantime, said her client was thrilled.

“This is really a vindication for him,” she said.

• Email: nfaris@postmedia.com | Twitter: @nickmfaris