Abuse victims reach proposed $8M settlement with Nunavut government

Plaintiffs were students of Maurice Cloughley, a teacher convicted of sex abuse

The Government of Nunavut is settling a class action lawsuit brought forth by sexual abuse victims of a former teacher in the territory. The Nunavut Court of Justice will consider whether to approve the $8-million settlement at a hearing June 4. (File photo)

By Madalyn Howitt

This story was updated on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 7 a.m. ET.

The Government of Nunavut has agreed to settle an $8-million class action lawsuit with Nunavummiut who were subjected to sexual abuse while attending schools in Clyde River and Resolute Bay decades ago.

The plaintiff’s lawyers, from Cooper Regel in Alberta and of Morris Moore in Newfoundland and Labrador, announced the proposed settlement Tuesday in a news release.

The class action stems from a lawsuit filed in 2008 by 37 former students of teacher Maurice Cloughley regarding allegations of sexual abuse in three Nunavut communities.

Cloughley was convicted in 1996 of nine sexual abuse offences against students he taught in what was then the Northwest Territories.

In 2016, three plaintiffs applied to certify the claim as a class action which, in 2020, was given the green light to proceed.

This week’s settlement agreement only includes those who were subject to Cloughley’s abuse while attending school in Clyde River and Resolute Bay between April 1, 1969 and July 30, 1981.

Lynn Moore, a partner at Morris Moore, said that is because the schools in those two communities where Cloughley taught were run by the territory, while Cloughley’s victims in other communities from schools run by the federal government fall under the McLean Day School Settlement.

If the Nunavut Court of Justice approves the settlement at a hearing on June 4, the GN will pay $8 million to establish a settlement fund to compensate class members.

The settlement money will be divided between class members on the basis of their injuries, up to $200,000 on any individual class member’s claim.

“The representative plaintiffs and their lawyers believe the proposed settlement is in the best interests of all class members,” the two law firms said in the statement.

Class members may attend the hearing in person, but it is “not necessary,” the firms said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the maximum settlement available to each class member.

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