Franck Gervais, the Quebec man accused of impersonating a military sergeant at a Remembrance Day ceremony this week, has been suspended with pay, according his employer.

Martin Savard, general manager of Potvin Construction — an Ottawa-area construction company with whom Gervais has worked for 12 years — confirmed the company suspended Gervais on Friday.

“We learned the news yesterday, so right away we took the decision to suspend him with pay,” Savard told the Star.

He said colleagues at Potvin Construction had noticed news articles circulating online about Gervais, who had allegedly falsely presented himself as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces in an interview with the CBC at the National War Memorial during Tuesday’s ceremony.

Savard said it was “quite a shock” to the company to learn their employee was accused of impersonating a soldier.

“I learned after the fact that he was telling people he used to be in the military,” he said.

“In the Ottawa region, there’s a lot of veterans working in a lot of companies around here, so it’s not something that would be a surprise to anyone in the area.”

Savard also said the company is turning to legal and public relations experts to help them manage the situation.

More

Clues that Franck Gervais is a fake soldier

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: