Royal Winnipeg Ballet Class Action Settlement Overview:
- Who: The Royal Winnipeg Ballet has reached a $10 million class action settlement with students.
- Why: The settlement was reached to end class action claims that a former teacher and photographer took nude and seminude photos of students and released them without their consent.
- Where: The case was filed in the Ontario Superior Court.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet has agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims a former teacher and choreographer took nude and seminude photographs of students, some while they were only teenagers, and then sold and distributed them without their consent.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs announced the settlement, saying the dance company had agreed to pay the money to end claims against the photographer Bruce Monk and itself, CTV reported.
The class action complaint was originally filed by lead Plaintiff Sarah Doucet and was given a judge’s approval to proceed in 2018.
Doucet claimed that Monk pressured her into letting him take seminude photos of her as a teenager and then distributed them without her permission.
Her class action complaint alleged that Monk took nude, seminude and intimate photographs of students in private settings during his employment at the school from 1984 through to 2015, some of which he published, sold and disseminated online.
The statement of claim alleges Doucet and other former students felt they had no choice but to follow Monk’s orders and later found images of some students being sold online.
Proposed Settlement Reached But Not Yet Approved, Ballet Says
Police investigated a complaint against Monk in 2015, and he was dismissed from the school, but no charges were laid, CTV reported.
Lawyer for the plaintiffs Margaret Waddell said more than 60 people had been identified as potential class action plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the ballet company and Monk.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet told CTV that a proposed settlement has been reached, but said it would not comment further until the settlement was approved.
Individuals who were sexually assaulted or sexually abused at church, school or during youth activities may be able to hold the perpetrators, as well as the institutions where the abuse occurred, accountable by filing a civil lawsuit.
Religious organisations, schools and other organizations that fail to report child sexual abuse to authorities may have been negligent and may be liable to pay compensation.
If you or a loved one was sexually abused or assaulted at church, school or daycare, or while participating in a youth program in Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, you may be able to participate in a lawsuit investigation. Click here for more information.
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