Judge approves $8M settlement with abuse victims, Nunavut government
Former students of Maurice Cloughley can apply for compensation for sexual offences committed between 1969 and 1981
A Nunavut judge has approved a class action settlement between the Government of Nunavut and students who were sexually abused by teacher Maurice Cloughley between 1969 and 1981. (File photo)
As many as 250 Nunavummiut could be eligible for financial compensation from a class action lawsuit over sexual abuse committed by a former Nunavut school teacher.
Chief Justice Susan Cooper approved an $8-million settlement between the victims and the Government of Nunavut, in a decision released Wednesday.
The lawsuit is on behalf of former students of Maurice Cloughley, who taught in several communities between 1967 and 1981 in what is now Nunavut and “abused his position of trust and authority in a most egregious manner by sexually exploiting and abusing young students in his care,” Cooper said in her decision.
Last May, the Government of Nunavut agreed to settle the class action suit for $8 million. At that point, the settlement still required approval by the Nunavut Court of Justice.
Now with Cooper’s ruling, the settlement will provide compensation to Nunavummiut who suffered from Cloughley’s abuse while attending schools operated by the territorial government in Clyde River and Resolute Bay between April 1, 1969 and July 30, 1981.
The settlement money will be divided between class members ranging from $25,000 to $200,000, depending on the crimes committed against them. It will also cover legal and administrative fees.
Cloughley was convicted in 1996 of nine sexual abuse offences against his former students and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Wednesday’s ruling puts an end to litigations that started in 2008, when 37 of Cloughley’s former students filed a lawsuit against the governments of Nunavut and Northwest Territories.
A few years later, in 2016, three plaintiffs applied to certify the claim as a class action suit which, in 2020, was allowed to proceed.
In her decision, Cooper estimates as many as 250 Nunavummiut could be eligible to apply for the compensation but only 50 are known at this point.
Her decision estimates 83 people, or about one-third of the class action members, will submit a claim with payouts averaging about $96,000.
Tell me that the GNWT is paying.
Nunavut didn’t exist when these crimes were committed and the agreement at division was that GNWT would cover liabilities from their time.
Our lawyers at GN are not that slow are they?
Yes they are. Mammianaq.
Not much, about 35% of that is going to the lawyer(s), their standard fee. Blood suckers….
My reading of the decision was 25% was going to the lawyers. The judge said the original agreement between the lawyers and the plaintiffs was a 33.333% contingency fee, which is similar to the rest of the country, but the lawyers have now decided to take 25%.
These offences happened back in the seventies and eighties when we were all under the administration of the NWT. I wonder why the GNWT isn’t taking any financial responsibility at all for this? I thought I read years ago that they took some financial responsibility for these types of cases that happened when they were in control. But maybe I’m mistaken.
Convicted nearly 30 years ago of crimes committed in the range of 58 to 44 years ago. This time frame is unacceptable and an indictment of our entire system.
As a sexual assault victim 46 years ago and a child resulting from the assault . i still live day to day with trauma. no amount of money can cure that, the person who is being sued was in a position of authority over children. is long overdue to be charged. People say forgive and move on. i get to relive it still with many triggers of trauma still very much alive within me. Today fear of men is still immense . it is embarrassing to you as to a lot of people are including to some of my family to talk about sexual assault .Glad this will finally bring some closure to the victims. i don’t want sympathy i just want more understanding of what we go through.. these assaults have been reported over 30 years ago and it took this long to prove evidence that it indeed happen and for our Government take actions.