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Latin Quarter club-bar Foufounes Électriques has been slapped with a ten-day forced closure stemming from numerous reports of violence and aggression on the part of its bouncers.
La Presse reports that the bar, sometimes known as “Foufs”, was hauled before the government body that oversees bars, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, for 44 allegations of violence and excessive force against its bouncers. Some of the bar’s customers were reportedly hit in the face or strangled — La Presse details a man who says a bouncer broke his tooth, while another woman says she was kneed by a bouncer after complaining about the wait time to get into the bar.
The Régie also criticized the bar for fights breaking out between customers, and for 72 incidents of theft between 2013 and 2016.
Hugo R. Martin, a lawyer who had previously represented the bar, told La Presse that the number of complaints was not unreasonable, given it was open seven days a week, saying that “a complaint being filed is not the same as a complaint being verified”.
In any case, the bar conceded in the hearing that its bouncers had been acting with excessive force, and agreed to the suspension imposed by the Régie — it has also reportedly installed surveillance cameras and is retraining its bouncers.
The bar will be closed starting Saturday, March 31 for ten days.