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Class-action suit being prepared
against GCC
September 13, 2007
By Kim Lunman
A lawyer based in Burlington is
drafting a class-action lawsuit for hundreds of former Grenville
Christian College students alleging decades of psychological and
physical abuse at the now-closed private school east of Brockville.
Personal injury lawyer Christopher
Haber - who has been soliciting former pupils of the boarding school
on an Internet message board where the allegations have surfaced -
said "over 1,000" potential plaintiffs across North America have
contacted him over the past several days.
"We're currently reviewing and
investigating the entire matter with the view to filing a
class-action lawsuit on behalf of the victims," he said in a
telephone interview.
"We've had probably over 1,000
inquiries," said Haber. "The magnitude of the response did take us
aback. ...There's all kinds of allegations of cruel and unusual
punishment at the school."
He said the allegations are being
made by former students who attended the school in the 1970s, 80s
and 90s.
"They're very unusual to say the
least and (entail) weird practices ... this school was not run in a
fashion that would approach normal," Haber said.
He also said complaints of physical
abuse "would definitely be part of the allegations in the claim."
The potential class-action
litigation is the latest twist in a scandal that has surfaced over
the school in the media and on the Internet after it suddenly closed
its doors last month.
School officials blamed the closure
on declining enrolment, saying they wouldn't have sufficient funds
to complete the school year.
Haber posted his website on the
Internet message board several days ago appealing to former students
of Grenville Christian College to contact his law firm.
"It's not about money," his website
states. "It's about justice. Then money."
But he would not say who will be
named as defendants in the lawsuit, which he expects to file as
early as next week.
"At this point, we will not make
any statements of who we're naming," he said. "We're in the
investigation phase."
The potential litigation comes as
the bishop of the region's Anglican Church diocese widens his
inquiry into allegations of abuse at Grenville Christian College.
Wayne Varley, diocesan executive
officer with the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, refused to comment on
the legal matter.
"We have received no communication
about a class-action lawsuit," he said, noting: "We have no
jurisdiction over Grenville Christian College staff."
The church confirmed last week it
opened a formal inquiry into complaints against two unnamed clergy
connected with the now-defunct school.
"Bishop George Bruce continues to
meet with students who have made written complaints," said Varley.
He said the bishop is meeting with former students until the end of
this month at his Kingston office.
However, he would not disclose how
many former students have come forward with the allegations or the
nature of their complaints.
The chairman of Grenville Christian
College's board of directors, Geoff Jackson, of Waterloo, could not
be reached for comment on the potential litigation.
Former students at the school have
alleged in the media bizarre disciplinary practices at the school,
including physical and psychological abuse. Some have claimed there
were so-called "light sessions" in which staff members hauled them
out of bed at night to shine bright lights in their eyes and call
them sinners.
The church is following the
procedure laid out under canon 35 that covers complaints and
discipline.
Under canon 35, Bruce will meet
with the complainants and then must inform anyone against whom those
complaints have been lodged of the allegations and allow them a
response.
If there is a finding of
misconduct, penalties range from a reprimand to disposing of a
priest's ministry.
Published in Section A, page 1 in
the Thursday, September 13, 2007 edition of the Brockville Recorder
& Times. Posted 5:01:12 PM Thursday, September 13, 2007.
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