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The Amherst Daily News, Nova Scotia: News | N.S. woman who claims sexual abuse at school for deaf loses lawsuit
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a former school for the deaf where allegations of sexual abuse were rampant in the 1980s.
Jane Suttis and her hearing-impaired daughter, Jennifer Cooper, went after the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, claiming officials at the school in Amherst, N.S., failed to protect Cooper from being sexually abused by a male employee between 1979 and 1985.
To date, no criminal charges have been laid against the worker in Cooper’s case. However, he was charged with indecent assault and sexual assault in relation to another student’s complaints. He was acquitted in October 2000.
Over the past decade, Suttis has repeatedly said she planned to sue the school but didn’t actually file the lawsuit on her daughter’s behalf until October 2005. The pair were suing for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
But the court threw out their claims Tuesday after the defendant made an application to strike the entire statement of claim and move to summary judgment.
Justice Gregory Warner heard arguments from both sides as to whether there was a case to move forward with.
Lawyer Noella Martin, arguing for the school, said the women filed their suit well after the deadline for a negligence claim, and suggested there were no grounds for the allegation of breach of fiduciary duty.
Lawyer Richard Bureau said his client, Cooper, wasn’t emotionally prepared to go forward with the case until now. She is now 33.
In regard to the breach issue, he said the school failed to provide Cooper with the education she was promised when she entered the institution in 1979 at age six.
When asked to elaborate, Bureau said Cooper could not return to complete her schooling after the administration reinstated the worker. She still doesn’t have her Grade 12 education today.
Cooper’s complaint, filed in 1984, prompted the school to carry out an internal investigation. The employee, who worked as a house parent with female students, was suspended but returned to work a month later when the inquiry turned up insufficient evidence of abuse.
Amherst police revisited the matter in 1997 when changes to the Canada Evidence Act allowed acceptance of a child’s testimony without independent corroboration, but the result was the same.
On Tuesday, Warner pointed out that his decision has nothing to do with whether or not Cooper was sexually abused, but deals solely with the liability of the school.
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a former school for the deaf where allegations of sexual abuse were rampant in the 1980s.
Jane Suttis and her hearing-impaired daughter, Jennifer Cooper, went after the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, claiming officials at the school in Amherst, N.S., failed to protect Cooper from being sexually abused by a male employee between 1979 and 1985.
To date, no criminal charges have been laid against the worker in Cooper’s case. However, he was charged with indecent assault and sexual assault in relation to another student’s complaints. He was acquitted in October 2000.
Over the past decade, Suttis has repeatedly said she planned to sue the school but didn’t actually file the lawsuit on her daughter’s behalf until October 2005. The pair were suing for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
But the court threw out their claims Tuesday after the defendant made an application to strike the entire statement of claim and move to summary judgment.
Justice Gregory Warner heard arguments from both sides as to whether there was a case to move forward with.
Lawyer Noella Martin, arguing for the school, said the women filed their suit well after the deadline for a negligence claim, and suggested there were no grounds for the allegation of breach of fiduciary duty.
Lawyer Richard Bureau said his client, Cooper, wasn’t emotionally prepared to go forward with the case until now. She is now 33.
In regard to the breach issue, he said the school failed to provide Cooper with the education she was promised when she entered the institution in 1979 at age six.
When asked to elaborate, Bureau said Cooper could not return to complete her schooling after the administration reinstated the worker. She still doesn’t have her Grade 12 education today.
Cooper’s complaint, filed in 1984, prompted the school to carry out an internal investigation. The employee, who worked as a house parent with female students, was suspended but returned to work a month later when the inquiry turned up insufficient evidence of abuse.
Amherst police revisited the matter in 1997 when changes to the Canada Evidence Act allowed acceptance of a child’s testimony without independent corroboration, but the result was the same.
On Tuesday, Warner pointed out that his decision has nothing to do with whether or not Cooper was sexually abused, but deals solely with the liability of the school.