The appellant, a subway user, was arrested and searched by a police officer after she refused to hold an escalator handrail and declined to identify herself.
The officer, designated as a subway inspector by the transit authority, had been trained that failure to hold the handrail was an offence under a municipal by-law.
The Supreme Court held that the officer committed a civil fault under art. 1457 C.C.Q. because a reasonable police officer would have recognized that the pictogram was merely a safety advisory, not an obligation under the by-law.
The transit authority was found directly liable for providing legally incorrect training and also liable as mandator for the officer's fault.
The victim bore no share of the liability, as she was entitled to refuse to comply with an unlawful order.
Damages of $20,000 were awarded, apportioned equally between the transit authority and the officer.
