Former students who filed $40M lawsuit saddened and angered by CBE response

CBE denies liability for teacher sex assaults The Calgary Board of Education says it's not liable for the actions of a teacher who admitted to improper behavior.

The Calgary Board of Education isn't liable for the actions of a teacher accused of sexual assault and didn't have a duty to care for his alleged student victims, the organization claimed in a statement of defence released Monday.

·         Warning: this story involves sexual assault, which may be triggering to some readers

The motion came in response to a $40 million class action lawsuit filed against the CBE and the estate of Michael Gregory, who was a teacher at John Ware Junior High School in southwest Calgary between 1986 and 2006. The statement of defence also asked that the suit be dismissed.

Gregory was charged with 17 counts of sexual assault after a number of former students went to police and he took his own life days later.

The lawsuit, obtained by CTV News and written by lawyer Jonathan Denis, names three plaintiffs who were all students of Gregory's. They each alleged he sexually assaulted them on multiple occasions.

The incidents occurred both inside the school and while on school trips, the document says.

The lawsuit also claims that Gregory "became adept" at grooming the students, including giving them concert tickets, drugs, alcohol and money.

It alleges the CBE knew about Gregory's actions and administrators and staff members did nothing.

The statement of defence said the CBE "denies each and every allegation," as well as denying that it owed a duty of care to the plaintiffs at the relevant time. It also denies that it was "vicariously liable for the alleged misconduct" of its current and former employees.

'SADDENED AND ANGERED'

The former students who filed the suit say they are saddened and angered by the CBE response.

“They are taking zero responsibility from how I've read things. They didn't want to take responsibility with me back in 1989, and they're continuing to not take any responsibility today," said Kelly Schneider, one of the three named plaintiffs in the lawsuit

“I feel that if the CBE is going to go this far to deny each and every claim and take any onus on the care, due care and attention of their students past present, that concerns me for today's students," Schneider added.

"If I was a parent with young kids in a system today, I would be very worried."

Gregory admitted to abusive behaviour against students in 2006, according to an Alberta Teachers' Association disciplinary ruling, but that information was not forwarded to Calgary police, which the ATA was not obligated to do.

Gregory made the admissions in an agreed statement of fact submitted as part of a two-day hearing, held in March and May 2006 which resulted in his teaching licence being suspended.

In it, he admitted to "incidents of inappropriate behaviour," which included an inappropriate relationship with two female junior high school students with whom he discussed his emotional, health and marital issues.

The ruling says he "initiated and participated in frequent text messaging, e-mailing and phoning at all hours of the day and night; and speculated how it would be to have a sexual relationship with them."

Along with providing students with alcohol, he also admitted to discussing the body types of some female students and inappropriate physical contact that included throwing rocks and even a dead fish at students while on a school canoe trip, as well as wrestling students to the ground and "pounding on them to teach them a lesson."

In its statement of defence the CBE appeared to dismiss any suffering that Gregory’s alleged victims may have suffered writing “In answer to the whole of the Claim, CBE denies that the Plaintiffs are entitled to or have incurred any loss or damages, as alleged or at all.”

That is a particularly infuriating statement said former Gregory student and plaintiff Eryn Mackenzie.

“I don't think that anyone has a right to tell somebody, you have not suffered. I don't care who you are. Nobody in this world has a right to turn to somebody else and say, 'You have not suffered'. Unless you personally have walked in their shoes, and you personally have gone through what they have gone through you have absolutely no right," said Mackenzie while choking back tears.

“I hope one day, I can sit down with whoever wrote that statement and say, catalogue all the losses that I have actually suffered from this," she added.

BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT

Advocates for people who have suffered sexual assault say not being believed is the biggest impediment for people reporting abuse.

Calgary Communities Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) CEO Danielle Aubry said those reporting assaults would speed healing and possibly prevent lawsuits like the one facing the CBE

"We need to protect children, you know, when there are adults that are harming children, we need to stop with the excuses, we need to stop with the, ‘oh, gee, this is too difficult to deal with’, and those children need to be believed," said Aubry.

"That doesn't mean that you can't have due process within systems. But first and foremost, you need to believe people when they come forward, because that in itself can silence people for the rest of their lives, if they're not believed, initially."

Gregory’s students who filed the $40 million lawsuit said they are prepared to follow through with the fight, and will not give up until the CBE finally believes them.

“Absolutely," said Schneider. "It's made me visit things that I haven't wanted to visit in a long time, but it needed to be done then and it needs to be done now.  I'm doing the right thing. So it's worth it."