Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Canada: Female officers may file class action suit against RCMP.

    Since a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news story in November featuring sexual harassment charges by high profile Corporal Catherine Galliford many other current and former female members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have come forward with other complaints.
     Many who have come forward say that there were inspired by the testimony of Galliford to come forward themselves. There now are at least 25 who may join a class action suit against the force. Lawyer Alexander Zaitleff along with six other lawyers is collecting data for the case. He maintains that he has been receiving stories from every province about abuse. Another lawyer involved said that the suit would likely be filed on behalf of one or two specific plaintiffs but he will then ask that the suit be certified as a class action. This would allow others to join.
    Corporal Krista Carle started a Facebook group open only to women with complaints of abuse. She noted that some involved have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Some can no longer work Until she saw the Galliford news report she felt that no one would ever believe her own story of harassment. For more see this article.
 

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