Three years after the filing, in June 2019, of the first request for collective action against the Brothers of the Christian Schools and one of the members of this injunction, the Superior Court granted approval last week to hear the case.
The plaintiff, a 68 -year -old man now identified by the initials AB, has obtained from the court the right to act as a representative for the 162 victims, male and female, to face so far.
Class action targets any sexual assault committed from 1940 to the present.
The Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools did not oppose the request for class action.
According to the request, AB was sexually assaulted by Brother Patrice, aged 7 and 8, while he was attending Dominique-Savio School, in Forestville, where the clergy were in charge, from 1960 to 1961.
These attacks usually took the form of tenderness and masturbationaccording to the description contained in the request, took place usually in the basement of the school, in a storage room at happened on many occasions.
Brother Patrice died on May 18, 2019.
Cites a series of consequences of these alleged attacks-anxiety, guilt, shame, low self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, alcohol and drug abuse, suicidal thoughts, among others -plaintiff is seeking $ 300,000 as damages -non -pecuniary interest, $ 150,000 for monetary losses and $ 150,000 in punitive damages, for a total of $ 600,000.
Control and monitoring
The petition argues that the Christian Brethren are responsible for the control, direction and supervision of their servants and members.
He reasoned that he was referring to officials or members of the congregation used their position of religious authority to form relationships with group members, including the applicant, and wrongly gained their trust.
He also criticized the religious organization, among other things, for having it fails to implement security or surveillance policies and measures to ensure that its members do not commit sexual attacks and have preferred the culture of silence instead of respecting their own internal law.
The class action request hearing took place on May 10 at the Montreal courthouse in the presence of several victims from across Quebec who attended via videoconference. The decision was made Tuesday by Judge Donald Bisson.
The Brothers of the Christian Schools were present in the elementary and secondary education of several hundred schools in Quebec and taught more than 40,000 students each year from 1955 to 1965.
The Superior Court decision therefore allows the legal process to begin on a date that remains to be determined. The case will then be heard unless there is an out -of -court agreement before the proceedings are over.
Source: Radio-Canada
