Koskie Minsky LLP and Watkins Law P.C. Bring Class Action on Behalf of Survivors of Abuse at Ontario Training Schools
THUNDER BAY, ON, Dec. 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto, and Watkins Law, P.C., in Thunder Bay, Ontario, have commenced a class action against the Province of Ontario on behalf of survivors of abuse at Ontario Training Schools.
The Training Schools were juvenile detention facilities for children that were established the Province of Ontario from the 1930s to 1984. The claim seeks $600 million from the Province of Ontario in damages for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and vicarious liability.
It is estimated that there are as many as 10,000 survivors of the Ontario Training Schools.
The Statement of Claim alleges that in establishing and operating the Training Schools, the Province of Ontario created a toxic environment in which physical, sexual and psychological abuse of children in its care was frequent and widespread.
It further alleges that cruel and degrading punishment perpetrated on children in the care of the Province was common. For example, staff disciplined residents for alleged misbehaviour using the "blanket treatment" whereby a blanket was placed over the resident and the resident was beaten by staff members and peers.
Although the Province of Ontario has already entered into settlements with survivors of St. Joseph's Training School for Boys, St. John's Training School for Boys, and Grandview Training School, survivors of Ontario's additional twelve Training Schools were left out.
The representative plaintiff in this class action is Kirk Keeping. Kirk was sent to Pine Ridge School when he was 15 years old. While at Pine Ridge, Kirk was repeatedly sexually abused by employees of the Province of Ontario. "I was just a kid," says the representative plaintiff Kirk Keeping. "What happened to me at Pine Ridge, I have had to live with that for the rest of my life."
"Ontario's most vulnerable children were locked away in geographically isolated communities where they were preyed upon and abused," says Jonathan Ptak, lead counsel at Koskie Minsky LLP. "The legacy of Ontario Training Schools is still being felt to this day."
"It's time these historic wrongs are righted," says Christopher Watkins, counsel at Watkins Law P.C.
If you were a resident of: (1) Reception and Assessment Centre ? Oakville; (2) Reception and Diagnostic Centre for Girls ? Galt (Reception, Diagnostic, and Treatment Centre ? Galt); (3) Ontario Training School for Girls ? Lindsay (Kawartha Lakes School); (4) Trelawney House ? Port Bolster; (5) Reception Centre for Boys ? Bowmanville (Reception Centre, Bowmanville); (5) Ontario Training School for Boys ? Simcoe (Glendale School); (6) Ontario Training School for Boys, Hagersville Junior School (White Oaks Village); (7) Ontario Training School for Boys, Hagersville Senior School (Sprucedale School); (8) Ontario Training School for Boys, Bowmanville (Pine Ridge School); (9) Ontario Training School for Boys, Cobourg (Brookside School); (10) Ontario Training School for Boys, Guelph (Hillcrest School); (11) Coldsprings Forestry Camp; (12) Cecil Fraser School; or Project D.A.R.E., please call 1 866 860 9364, visit https://kmlaw.ca/cases/ontario-training-schools or email [email protected]
Koskie Minsky LLP, based in Toronto, is one of Canada's foremost class action, pension, labour, employment and litigation firms. Its class actions group has been a leader in class actions since 1992 and has prosecuted many of the leading cases in the area. For example, Koskie Minsky LLP was counsel in Cloud v. Canada, the first Indian Residential Schools class action certified in Canada which was settled for $5 billion. Koskie Minsky LLP was also counsel in Dolmage v. Ontario and three other related cases against the province of Ontario on behalf of thousands of people with disabilities which were settled for more than $107 million. Koskie Minsky LLP is also counsel in the recently settled class actions on behalf of survivors of the Sixties Scoop and the LGBT Purge in the Canadian military and public service.
Christopher Watkins of Watkins Law PC, based in Thunder Bay, bring extensive courtroom and trial experience in the areas of personal injury, criminal and class action litigation.
SOURCE Koskie Minsky LLP
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