Settlement reached in RWB photo lawsuit

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

FORMER Royal Winnipeg Ballet School students who say a dance instructor took intimate photos of them have reached a $10-million settlement with the ballet.

A law firm that represents the students in a class-action suit has confirmed the deal.

The settlement applies to students who were at the school between 1984 and 2015 who were photographed by Bruce Monk in a private setting during that period.

Under terms of the settlement, which still has to be approved by the court, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet will pay a lump sum of $10 million “in full and final settlement of all class members’ claims,” in exchange for dismissing all claims against the ballet and Monk, Toronto law firm Waddell Phillips Professional Corp. said on its website.

A claims administrator will decide the eligibility of those who have filed a claim for compensation and assess the level of harm each student has suffered, the law firm says.

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

The lawsuit was launched in late 2018. The lawsuit did not allege Monk’s conduct was criminal, but that he breached the “position of trust and power” that he held over the students he photographed, the law firm said.

Monk was a teacher, choreographer and photographer at the school for 28 years until the RWB let him go in 2015 after the allegations surfaced.

The lead plaintiff for the lawsuit, Sarah Doucet, alleged Monk persuaded her to let him take semi-nude photos of her as a teenager. She later learned he had distributed them. Doucet sued for $50 million in damages on behalf of herself and other students.

“In the class action, the plaintiff sought damages for the harm he caused to the student class members by taking sexualized photographs of them,” the law firm said. “It also (sought) damages against Monk for the further harm he caused when he posted the images online, making them widely available to view and, in some cases, selling them online.”

In November 2016, Manitoba Justice announced that after an investigation, no criminal charges would be laid.

“The Crown recommended that charges not be laid because a conviction was unlikely,” a justice official said at the time.

A lawsuit filed by a former dance student in 2016 that included similar allegations was dropped in January 2020.

Monk has denied the allegations against him and the ballet school denied any knowledge of wrongdoing.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca