A B.C woman is alleging she was subjected to strip searches and sexual assault while a student at a Mission, 小蓝视频, high school.
In an April 14 小蓝视频 Supreme Court notice of civil claim, plaintiff Debra Ann Tait names the Board of Education of School District No. 75 (Mission) as the defendant.
The claim identifies two men employed at Hatzic Secondary School as allegedly being involved in the case but they are not named as parties to the lawsuit. The suit identifies them as S. Syverson and Gill.
The suit claims Syverson was a school counsellor and Gill was a physical education teacher.
The claim alleges Syverson, in about 1980-1982 sexually assaulted the plaintiff. It also alleges Gill sexually assaulted the plaintiff, “by amongst other things forcing her to submit to weekly strip searches.”
The claim alleges the acts “occurred on a repeated basis, increasing in frequency, nature and intensity as time progressed.”
The lawsuit claims the “perpetrators used the positions of authority and trust, also the fact the plaintiff was a young child, to ensure that the plaintiff did not tell anyone about their wrongdoings.”
The suit asserts the school district was negligent, and that it owed a duty of care to protect the child.
“The perpetrators’ intentional touching without consent constituted battery, abuse, sexual; abuse, sexual battery and sexual assault,” the claim said.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
The claim asserts the plaintiff suffered physical pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, mental anguish, humiliation, degradation, depression, anxiety, psychological injuries, addiction, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, mistrust of authority figures, mistrust of men and women, inability to have normal relationships, nightmares and other issues.
Further, the suit seeks damages under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, alleging strip searches were a breach of the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.
The suit seeks general, special, punitive, aggravated and other damages.
There is no phone number for an S. Syverson in 小蓝视频 The name Gill is extremely common.
The school district did not immediately respond to Glacier Media's request for comment.
