A Toronto private school was sued over a student’s alleged sexual assault. The school’s name was kept secret until now.
By: Andrew Tuckert
“We’re still not completely sure what happened. At this point we’re investigating that.”
That’s what a spokesperson for Humber Canada School says after a lawsuit was filed against the school over the alleged sexual assault of a student.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the student’s family by the Law Office of Michael J. H. Cuddy on July 22. The school is named as the school district, but is not mentioned by name.
This lawsuit was filed against Humber Canada School under the Human Rights Code. The complainant alleges that the school failed to protect the student from harm by failing to properly investigate a report of sexual assault.
The lawsuit states that the school failed to conduct an inquiry in accordance with Ontario’s Human Rights Code in handling an alleged sexual assault that occurred on October 15, 2013.
The lawsuit also alleges a lack of respect for the victim by the school staff and an institutional disregard for the rights of the student’s family.
The lawsuit alleges that school staff violated the student’s rights to privacy, freedom from sexual assault, due process by preventing the family from having access to the student’s medical report, and freedom from sexual assault by not investigating the incident after it occurred.
The student was a nine-year-old student in Grade 11. The lawsuit does not mention the school’s name.
The lawsuit also alleges that Humber Canada School was negligent for not conducting its own due diligence in investigating the incident and failing to properly report the incident to the police following the alleged sexual assault.
The lawsuit alleges that the Humber Canada School’s staff should have known of signs of sexual assault in the student’s family and should have taken action to prevent the alleged sexual assault.
The student was the second child (the first child was one in Grade 4) of parents who had been in a relationship with each other for two years.
The allegations were brought forward in January 2014, after the student’s mother received a phone call from a woman who reported that the student had been sexually assaulted.
