Judge disclosed 'problem'

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Lori Douglas

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Alex Chapman

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Jack King

A Manitoba judge disclosed details of a private sex scandal to the committee that ultimately approved her appointment to the bench years before it became public and forced her temporary reassignment.

Lori Douglas, the associate chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, family division, announced Wednesday she would remove herself from active duty while the Canadian Judicial Council reviews a sexual harassment complaint recently filed against her.

"In the interests of the judiciary and of the court, Associate Chief Justice Douglas has requested to be temporarily relieved of her duties as a sitting judge of the Court of Queen's Bench," Chief Justice Marc Monnin said in a statement. Douglas will continue to work behind the scenes in an "administrative capacity" pending completion of the probe, which could take at least two more months.

Douglas made the move only hours after a Winnipeg computer programmer filed three lawsuits seeking $67 million in damages against the judge, her husband and the law firm at which both used to work. Alex Chapman claims he is the victim of "assault, harassment, misfeasance in public office, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress" in his statement of claim.

"It is hard to believe that the integrity of our judicial system has been so tarnished by those who are meant to uphold it," Chapman wrote in a summary that accompanied his lawsuits. None of the allegations has been proven and the parties have one month to file a statement of defence.

The Law Society of Manitoba has also launched a professional-misconduct investigation of Douglas's husband, Jack King, who is a family lawyer in private practice. Chapman first met King in 2002 when he retained him to act in his ongoing divorce case. King has admitted he tried to recruit Chapman to have sex with Douglas in early 2003. Chapman says King told him his wife, who is white, was interested in having sex with black men like him.

King's lawyer, Bill Gange, told the Free Press Wednesday Douglas previously disclosed details of her husband's issues with Chapman to the committee that was vetting her nomination as a Queen's Bench judge in 2005.

"She disclosed that there had been a problem. I don't know how detailed it was, because frankly I don't know how much Lori knew," said Gange.

In the lawsuit, Chapman documents several lunch meetings at the Pony Corral restaurant in which King allegedly pointed Chapman to a pornographic website which contained explicit photos of Douglas posted under the name of "White Princess." The site also contained numerous images of sexual activity between white women and black men. Chapman said in his lawsuit King also sent him more than 50 similar photos of Douglas in an attempt to entice him to have sex with her.

"They were most explicit, disgusting, obscene and offensive," Chapman says in his lawsuit. "King's tone was very aggressive, commanding almost."

Chapman is also alleging in his lawsuit Douglas was an active and willing participant in her husband's sordid efforts. He has filed transcripts of several emails and phone calls from King he claims supports that fact, along with details of two personal meetings he had with Douglas.

There is no evidence Douglas knew what King was doing. King has claimed, through his lawyer, that Douglas may not have even been aware of his attempts to solicit other men to have sex with her or the fact he had distributed and posted the pictures.

The question of what Douglas knew, and what she disclosed, is important because aspiring judges are required to answer the following question: "Is there anything in your past or present which could reflect negatively on yourself or the judiciary?"

In the comments accompanying the lawsuit, Chapman claims Douglas began "inappropriately touching him" and inviting him to come to their home in Birds Hill during a second meeting.

In one email allegedly sent by King following his initial meeting with Douglas, he tells Chapman "Alex, she rather liked you." King then passed on several descriptions used by Douglas toward Chapman, including "Significantly neat," "Very intelligent," "Very big."

During one exchange, Chapman said he asked King how Douglas felt about what he was doing.

"Alex, I think she likes you. She suggested this evening (not as a result of anything I said) that you should be invited out here. I suggest that she knows what I have in mind, but she is not going to say it," King wrote. Days later, he said, "Hope we can see you tomorrow. I think she is interested. She also (I suspect from something she said) knows what I have in mind."

King resigned from Thompson Dorfman Sweatman in June 2003, taking a one-year medical leave and agreeing to pay Chapman $25,000. In exchange, Chapman signed a confidentiality agreement stating he would not take any legal action, would never speak publicly about the issue and would turn over and destroy all photos he had of Douglas.

Chapman now admits he has breached those terms by coming forward. He says his personal life is "in turmoil" and believes he is being discriminated against by the justice system based on his previous dealings with Douglas and King.

In his lawsuit, Chapman said he feared how this would impact his divorce case and two civil lawsuits he had filed, including one against the Winnipeg Police Service that was settled in June.

Chapman says his lawyer, Ian Histed, told him that, during a private case conference, the judge pressured them to settle for an amount Chapman felt was unfair. Chapman says Histed told him the presiding judge is a "good friend" of Douglas and worried that if they didn't settle, all of the hidden details about her and King would come out into the open, because the civil lawsuit was tied to his divorce case and settlement. Chapman says he ultimately agreed to the amount but wasn't happy with it.

King's lawyer Gange accused Chapman of originally trying to "extort" $100,000 from King only to settle for much less and said King and Douglas likely have several legal avenues to pursue against Chapman's allegations.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 2, 2010 A3