Leduc pays over $9.5 million to 155 women in class-action lawsuit settlement
A law firm representing women who sued an Alberta municipality over claims of sexual assault, harassment and discrimination says over $9.5 million has been paid out to 155 women whose claims were approved in a settlement.
Two female firefighters with the Leduc fire department, south of Edmonton, launched the class-action lawsuit in 2022 claiming they were subject to physical and sexual assault, harassment and bullying while on the job.
In a news release late Monday, the law firm of Burnett, Duckworth & Palmer LLP claims the settlement is “one of the highest per person payouts in Canadian legal history for workplace sexual misconduct.”
The class action sought damages for women who had worked at the City of Leduc between 2002 and 2023, and the Court of King’s Bench approved a settlement to provide compensation to the women in 2023.
In January 2024, Leduc’s mayor apologized to the women who worked at the City of Leduc.
In a statement on its website, the municipality says the settlement has provided the means to move forward with what it calls “critical change initiatives,” which it says include psychological health and safety initiatives, mandatory training and workplace investigation training.
“We acknowledge the profound impact that this matter has had. We have learned from this experience and are continuing to move forward in a way that honours our commitment to a respectful and safe environment for all. This remains central to everything we do,” the city’s statement says.
It also notes Leduc residents will not shoulder the cost of the settlement, explaining that legal and claims costs are covered by insurance and the payment “will have no effect on future property taxes.”
“When I started this journey, my goal was simple: to bring the truth to light. Because the truth, above all else, is what brings validation. It’s what gives people peace,” former Leduc firefighter and plaintiff Christa Steele said in the law firm’s news release.
“I am grateful that we set a precedent and made history. We left a mark and I am proud of what we accomplished together.”
The law firm says the claims process for the class-action lawsuit has now concluded.
Its statement says the plaintiffs asked the court’s permission in January to disclose the total number of claimants and the amounts paid out, but it says the City of Leduc opposed the move. At the end of March, it says the court dismissed the city’s request and allowed the numbers to be made public.
It also notes that over the past 18 months, the parties have participated in a process that allows the women who were affected to talk about their experiences with the city’s leadership.
Guelph man charged after allegedly abducting a bar worker
A 43-year-old Guelph man is facing multiple charges after allegedly abducting a bar employee and holding her against her will.
Guelph Police say the victim, an adult woman, came forward Friday to report that she was followed home the previous evening by a man she recognized as a regular customer at her workplace.
According to police, after she was dropped off by a co-worker, the man approached her and convinced her to get into his car to talk. Once inside, he allegedly locked the doors and drove away, ignoring her repeated requests to be let out.
There is no indication that the culprit is a Muslim, except that getting a woman or girl in their car and locking the doors means she is under the culprit's 'power' or control. The Quran says that such girls are completely at the mercy of the man and he may do with her as he wishes.
The man is accused of physically restraining the woman when she tried to open the door to escape, police say.
She eventually managed to get out of the vehicle and flagged down another driver for help.
Police say the suspect continued to contact the woman the next day, calling her approximately 16 times in an attempt to meet and return items she had left in his car.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, officers arrested the suspect.
He is charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault and criminal harassment, according to police.
He was held in custody for a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
A 43-year-old Guelph man is facing multiple charges after allegedly abducting a bar employee and holding her against her will.
Guelph Police say the victim, an adult woman, came forward Friday to report that she was followed home the previous evening by a man she recognized as a regular customer at her workplace.
According to police, after she was dropped off by a co-worker, the man approached her and convinced her to get into his car to talk. Once inside, he allegedly locked the doors and drove away, ignoring her repeated requests to be let out.
The man is accused of physically restraining the woman when she tried to open the door to escape, police say.
She eventually managed to get out of the vehicle and flagged down another driver for help.
Police say the suspect continued to contact the woman the next day, calling her approximately 16 times in an attempt to meet and return items she had left in his car.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, officers arrested the suspect.
He is charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault and criminal harassment, according to police.
He was held in custody for a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Is this an example of the quality of character of Bellingcat operatives?
Ex-Bellingcat operative killed himself after being exposed as pedophile – media
A child rapist who worked for five years with the Western OSINT agency Bellingcat killed himself shortly before he was due to be imprisoned, recently published Dutch court documents reveal.
The operative, known under the alias Daniel Romein, took his life in 2022 after being sentenced to prison for sexually abusing his own daughter.
So he managed to escape the prison sentence, but, most assuredly, went straight to Hell.
Romein had been involved in the investigation of the MH17 crash by the Western-funded “open-source intelligence” group, as well as in the Stop Child Abuse initiative, dedicated to geolocating explicit materials involving minors.
The news was first made public by independent Dutch journalist Eric Van De Beek last month, and the surrounding events were further explored in a piece released by The Grayzone last Friday.
Van De Beek said that Romein hadn't died from “cardiac arrest” in December 2022 as previously reported, stating a close friend had confirmed that the ex-Bellingcat operative had taken his own life.
The researcher, who worked for Bellingcat between 2014 and late 2019, was sentenced to 36 months in prison earlier that year for prolonged sexual abuse of his daughter, the journalist claimed, citing an anonymized court case on the matter. The case was released by Dutch authorities only in March of this year after repeated inquiries by independent media, Van De Beek noted.
The case details the way the defendant abused his daughter when she was between six and 10 years old, which involved oral sex, genital rubbing, and other sexualized behavior.
The events, which took place roughly between October 2011 and October 2016, only came to light several years later, when the girl told her mother and stepfather.
The court materials quote a lackluster letter of apology sent by the defendant to his daughter when the scandal became public, in which he appeared to blame her.
The case also revealed that the defendant had been convicted of possession of child pornography “over 15 years” prior.
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins, when questioned by The Grayzone, denied that Romein’s firing in December 2019 had been related to his criminal past.
Why would he deny that? You would think he would be proud of it.
However, the group’s founder “tacitly acknowledged” that the researcher had been the target of sexual abuse allegations. “It is not clear whether the [court] judgment is about Mr. Romein, as it is anonymized,” he told the outlet in a mailed statement.
In August 2021, Romein was stripped of his European Press Prize, which had been awarded for his work on the Stop Child Abuse project. At the time, the Netherlands-based non-profit cited “unidentified substantiated complaints” from different individuals as the reason for its decision.
When asked by The Grayzone if the complaints were related to sexual abuse, Higgins stated they were due to the researcher’s “unacceptable online behavior.”
Despite advertising itself as an investigative group specializing in fact-checking and open-source intelligence, Bellingcat has received funding from several Western governments.
This has raised questions about its credibility, and Moscow contends that it works closely with Western intelligence services to “put pressure on either [Russia] or individuals and entities.”
It has long been assumed by many that Bellingcat is a CIA organization developed to create propaganda for the press. To create the 'acceptable narrative' for Deep State.
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