McGill music instructor claims he lost promotion to less qualified candidate

Jonathan Dagenais is suing Montreal's McGill University, alleging he passed over for a new job at the school 'for diversity reasons,' despite believing he was more qualitied.

A teacher in McGill’s music department is suing the Montreal university for $300,000 claiming he was passed over for a prestigious job.

In the lawsuit filed on June 6 at Quebec Superior Court, conductor and instructor Jonathan Dagenais alleges several experts agreed he was the most qualified candidate by far but that because of his race, he wasn’t chosen.

None of the allegations have been proven in court and McGill University has not yet delivered a statement of defence setting out its response to Dagenais’ allegations.

Dagenais, a white man, is a well-respected conductor for multiple orchestras, including the McGill Wind Orchestra. He’s a teacher at the university’s Schulich School of Music.

He has been a part-time and replacement lecturer at McGill for more than a decade. When a professor and community engagement job came up earlier this year, he thought it was a perfect match.

“It was really my dream job,” Dagenais said. “It’s exactly the job I was looking for in my life.”

After a seven-month application process, Dagenais said he was chosen as one of the final three candidates for the tenured position.

At the grueling all-day audition, he said he put his teaching and conducting skills on display in front of a seven-person panel.