RWB photo settlement brings closure, change

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This article was published 04/01/2022 (1371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sarah Doucet is glad the Royal Winnipeg Ballet has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit, compensating numerous former students for intimate photos allegedly taken by a former dance instructor at its school — but says it was never about money.

“It was to make sure this never happened again,” Doucet, 50, said Tuesday. “That’s the bottom line.

“I started the class action after the Crown in Winnipeg said it wasn’t a winnable case — so in 2015, we were told no (criminal) charges. But he would have gotten away with it and nothing would have changed.

“What he did should never have happened.”

The RWB has agreed to pay $10 million in return for dismissing all claims against the ballet and its former employee, Bruce Monk. The bulk of the funds will go to students who were allegedly photographed by Monk in a private setting between 1984 and 2015, when he was let go shortly after the allegations surfaced.

An approval hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.

In a statement, RWB artistic director and chief executive officer André Lewis said the issue “was brought to light several years ago, thanks to the courage of former students.”

“Out of respect for the legal process and the privacy of all parties involved, we are unable to comment further on details of the case until after the settlement hearing. The safety of our students, staff and dancers remains the highest priority for us and we continue to work with organizations like the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to ensure our policies and procedures at the RWB do all they can to provide a safe environment for everyone,” Lewis said.

Toronto-based lawyer for the plaintiffs, Margaret Waddell, said the settlement comes little more than a month before the civil suit was scheduled to go to trial Feb. 14.

Waddell said she doesn’t know exactly how many former students will be compensated; people who are part of the class action didn’t have to be identified until a judge agrees with the terms of the settlement.

“Our best guess is in the 200 to 250 range,” she said. “This went on for 25 to 30 years, and 10 students get in there (the school) each year.”

Damages will be paid out based on an individual’s experience, Waddell said.. A claims administrator will determine the amount based on trauma to the person and the eligibility of those who have filed a claim.

Family members of affected students will also be eligible for payments up to $2,500.

“This should have been a safe environment (for the students),” said Waddell.

“One of the positive things is the school has put in internal procedures and a reporting system. Everything that was lacking for a safety system is in force now. It is one of the things Sarah and the others wanted so it could never happen again.”

Doucet was in her teens when she attended to the ballet school. Monk persuaded her to let him take semi-nude photos of her, and she later learned he had distributed the pictures, she said.

After she left the Winnipeg school, she suffered a broken neck in a vehicle collision when she was 18 and was told by doctors she would never dance again.

“Finally, another doctor said I could listen to my body,” she said. “I moved to Montreal and danced in contemporary dance until I retired a few years ago.”

Many involved in the class action continued to dance, but there were others who hung up their ballet slippers after what they experienced, Doucet said.

Several people, including herself, were prepared to testify at the trial, but “it is a massive relief” it will no longer be necessary, she said.

“I don’t know what I would say to him — it would be full of expletives,” said Doucet. “Maybe I wouldn’t say anything to him.

“We were pursuing dreams. You don’t choose dance, dance chooses us. This will always be with me, but I do have the closure I needed. I hope the other dancers and family have it, too.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca