New allegations against WRPS in sexual harassment lawsuit

New affidavits detailing further allegations of sexual harassment within Waterloo Regional Police have been filed, in what could be a roughly $160-million class-action lawsuit.

Lawyer Douglas Elliott from Cambridge LLP is representing the plaintiffs and spoke on 570’s The Mike Farwell Show on Wednesday.

He says the affidavits come from current and former members of WRPS: Vera Mackenzie, Sgt. Shelley Heinrich, and Sgt. Karin Eder.

He says Eder gave evidence that she was sent an unsolicited picture of a penis from a Superintendent, who was later appointed to the Unfounded Sexual Assault Task Force.

Another allegation has been leveled against the lawyer representing WRPS.

Elliott says Sgt. Heinrich, who is about to retire, should have been a Superintendent by now- but her career was stalled because she wouldn’t put up with the harassment.

He believes these allegations reveal a highly sexual culture and highly toxic work environment within WRPS, that’s been present ever since the Service was founded.

And what Elliott considers the most important: some of these concerns had been brought to Berry Zehr, who worked in the Service’s HR department for a while, and “he brought it to the top brass, and he just could not get anywhere with it.”

He believes both the Police Association and Chief Bryan Larkin have failed to come to terms with a deeply misogynistic culture, and “frat house antics”.

A statement from lawyer, James H. Bennett, from Madorin Snyder, representing the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board, says in part:

“Normally we would not make any comments on a matter which is before the courts out of respect for a fair, impartial judicial process, however, it would be unfair and wrong to let the Affidavits filed by the plaintiffs that we believe contain untrue, exaggerated, misleading and/or defamatory allegations against past, current and deceased members which we vehemently deny, be left unchallenged.”

And further:

“The affiants are now going to be cross-examined under oath within the next 30 days and their false, exaggerated and misleading allegations will be challenged and exposed at that time. The transcripts of their cross-examinations will then be filed in the court proceedings, and it is hoped that the media will then properly report on the actual evidence rather than the misleading and at present unchallenged allegations. We continue to vigorously oppose the jurisdiction of the Class Action law suit.”

Elliott says their next hearing date is June 18 in Brampton, to determine if the case can be certified as a class action matter.

But he says the judge’s decision might not come until the Fall.

And while Elliott says it’s typical that a settlement is reached soon after certification is granted, if it’s not granted in this case, he’s willing to go to the Ontario Court of Appeal — even to the Supreme Court of Canada if need be.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today