Proposed Settlement Reached in Class Action Alleging Money Stolen From Foster Children

A proposed multi-million dollar class action lawsuit settlement agreement has been reached by B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development in the case of a British Columbia social worker, who allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 100 highly vulnerable foster children.

In 2018, the foster children class action lawsuit was launched against the accused social worker Robert Riley Saunders for stealing rent money, among other funds, from the foster children under his guardianship while he was an employee of the Ministry of Children and Family Development in Kelowna.

According to the foster children class action lawsuit, the ministry has pinpointed at least 102 possible victims of Saunders, out of which at least 85 were Indigenous children. The proposed victims were reportedly under his guardianship spanning from April 2001 until his termination in 2018. The plaintiffs’ lawyer states there may be more victims, but poor records were kept.

Saunders’ clients accused him of moving them from secure, loving homes to independent living arrangements where he used joint bank accounts to steal funds that were given by the ministry for their living expenses. More than a dozen lawsuits were filed before the foster children class action lawsuit settlement agreement was reached. 

Making the foster children move away from their homes allowed them to be eligible for financial benefits from the ministry, and Saunders opened joint bank accounts for each youth. In 2018, two lawsuits were made against the province and Saunders for these deceitful actions.

The statements alleged that Saunders stole the funds given by the ministry by moving them to his own individual bank account or by electronically transferring funds to pay for his own expenses. They also claimed Saunders took advantage of the youths’ vulnerability and that he bestowed parental control over them.

As a result of the victim’s stolen funds, many of them claim they were forced into homelessness, at the mercy of physical and sexual abuse, and headed in a downward spiral of addiction and pain.

The parties will put the agreement before a judge on July 28. The province acknowledges the abuse their former employee has rendered.

The foster children class action lawsuit agreement states that the harm includes neglect, misappropriation of funds, and failure to plan for the children’s wellbeing and did not take steps to respect the cultural identities of the Indigenous children.

The Ministry of Children and Family Development first identified financial disparities involving Saunders in 2017, according to documents. The investigation into the claims of negligence and fraud has been recently completed by the RCMP. A review of the findings is reportedly being done by The B.C. Prosecution Service.

Saunders has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing and has not acted in response to the many lawsuits brought upon him. 

The planned foster children class action lawsuit settlement could cost the province as much as $15 million, a projection proposed by Jason Gratl, the lawyer appointed to the victims. The terms of the agreement will arrange $25,000 for each of Saunders’ 102 former clients, regardless of their present situation. The Indigenous victims will receive an extra $44,000 each.

For the victims who have endured homelessness, sexual exploitation, and physical or sexual abuse, they may be eligible to receive an additional $181,000 in damages.

According to Gratl, it’s “unspeakably selfish” for Saunders to steal rent money from children and force them out on the streets in order to put $500 in his own pocket. 

Another indiscretion found in Saunders’ history is an apparent fake degree. His original application for employment includes a copy of a bachelor of social work from the University of Manitoba. In an email sent last year, the university’s registrar explained that the degree was fabricated.

In 2004, Saunders was found to be in a conflict of interest for withholding a client’s money. A letter written by the ministry’s aboriginal community services manager for the Okanagan pointed this out. Saunders was notified that he could be terminated for further violations.

Saunders’ employment records show that he was possibly indifferent to Aboriginal culture and history, and despite his insensitivity, he was given a caseload that included high-risk Indigenous children by the ministry.

“But I honestly have my doubts whether this lawsuit will be sufficient to effect the type of systemic attitudinal change within the ministry toward Indigenous people that would be necessary to alleviate problems of this kind in the future. One lawsuit can’t effect systemic change like that, but it can contribute,” Gratl said.

Saunders has never been served with any of the many lawsuits against him and after the accusations became public in 2018, he disappeared from Kelowna. Lawyers are still searching for Saunders. 

Saunders has never responded to the accusations or filed a statement of defence in court.

Unfortunately, Canada has a history of stigmatization and discrimination against Aboriginal families by Government agencies meant to protect children, and this lawsuit is not the first of its kind.

Earlier this year, the Assembly of First Nations filed a $10 billion class action lawsuit accusing the Canadian government of underfunding the First Nations child welfare system in the Yukon and on reserves, claiming that Canada’s child welfare system discriminated against First Nations children.

Last month A First Nations woman filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Manitoba child and family services (CFS) agencies after three of her children were apprehended after an alleged instance of abuse by their father. The mother reportedly was never alleged to have engaged in abusive behaviour toward her children, and did not suffer from mental health disorders nor substance abuse. Nevertheless, the CFS agencies stigmatized her as “unfit”, the claim says. According to the lawsuit Her children were sexually and physically abused while living in foster homes.

What do you think about the foster children class action lawsuit settlement agreement? Do you think Saunders will be found and charged with any wrongdoing? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below! 

The plaintiffs are being represented by Jason Gratl.

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