$10M Settlement of Class Action Against Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Bruce Monk Approved By Court
TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A $10 million settlement of a class action brought against the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and its former instructor, Bruce Monk, has been approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The settlement will provide compensation to students of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School who were enrolled between 1984 to 2015 and were photographed by Bruce Monk in a private setting.
The class action alleged that, while Bruce Monk was a teacher and photographer at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, he took nude, semi-nude and intimate photographs of students, some of which he published, sold, and disseminated online without consent.
Under the terms of the settlement, the RWB will pay $10 million, and it has issued an apology for the harm that the students suffered. The apology is accessible on the RWB's website here. The Defendants have not admitted any liability in entering into the settlement.
After deduction of legal fees and administration costs, the balance of the $10 million settlement will be paid to those RWB students who submit a confidential claim and who are approved as eligible by independent adjudicators. The claim process will be simplified and trauma-informed. Claim forms will be available on the claims administrator's website https://www.rwbclassaction.ca/ by the end of February, 2022. The claim period will remain open for a year, until February 28, 2023.
Eligible students will receive a one-time payment of $1,000 for health services, and their family members will receive a payment of up to $2,500. The balance will be paid to the eligible students based upon the severity of the harms they each have endured.
The Court found that the settlement provides "meaningful access to justice" to the affected students. The Court also approved Class Counsel's fee request in the total amount of $2,552,500, finding that the "legal services provided were of the highest quality" in "this hard-fought litigation".
Additional information about the settlement is available at http://waddellphillips.ca/class-actions/royal-winnipeg-ballet-class-action/.
Class Counsel are Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation and Gillian Hnatiw & Co.
Contact:
Royal Winnipeg Ballet Class Action
Tel: (647) 261-4486
[email protected]
www.waddellphillips.ca
News published on and distributed by:
