Former grand chief Dumas sued for sexual assault
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2023 (778 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg woman is suing former Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief Arlen Dumas, alleging he raped her in 2022.
A civil lawsuit, filed Aug. 30 in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, detailed “at least” eight allegations of sexual battery, including one instance in which the plaintiff alleges Dumas “overpowered her, put her on her stomach on the bed, wrapped his arm tightly around her to restrain her… and forcibly sexually penetrated her.”
According to the court documents, the plaintiff, who the Free Press is not naming due to the sexual nature of the allegations, nearly lost consciousness during the assault because Dumas was forcing her head and neck into the bed.
None of the claims have been tested in court.
Police have not announced any criminal charges against Dumas.
A Winnipeg woman is suing former Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief Arlen Dumas, alleging he raped her in 2022. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press Files)
The allegations date from January to March 2022, while Dumas was at the helm of the AMC. At that time, the plaintiff was working in a new role, in which she interacted with Dumas daily.
The lawsuit claims Dumas “immediately created a hostile and inappropriate working environment,” sending the woman inappropriate messages, commenting on her appearance, and manufacturing scenarios in which the pair would be alone together.
According to the lawsuit, Dumas repeatedly asked the plaintiff to meet after work hours, including for dinner, in his car and at his apartment. On several occasions, the woman reportedly agreed; at other times, she made up excuses to avoid being alone with him, the suit says.
Dumas physically, verbally and professionally intimidated the woman over the course of several months, the lawsuit claims.
In one alleged incident, the plaintiff had been drinking heavily and requested Dumas pick her up from a friend’s home, the lawsuit says. “When she woke up in the morning sober, she realized she was naked and in the defendant’s bedroom. She was confused and had little memory of the previous night.”
It alleges Dumas raped her that morning.
“When the defendant had finished forcing himself on the plaintiff, he showered. He also made comments… about needing to figure out how to clean his bedding,” the documents claim.
The pair later had sex on four other occasions, the lawsuit says, with the plaintiff claiming all encounters were not consensual.
“The plaintiff reported to the defendant, she was hired by the defendant, and it was also the defendant who had job evaluation, disciplinary and firing power over the plaintiff,” the claim says.
“The plaintiff felt she could not say no because of the defendant’s position of authority over her. She recalls feeling afraid, ashamed and embarrassed.”
“The plaintiff felt she could not say no because of the defendant’s position of authority over her. She recalls feeling afraid, ashamed and embarrassed.”–Claim
In March 2022, the woman filed a report with the Winnipeg Police Service, accusing Dumas of sexual assault.
WPS previously confirmed it had received this report.
At roughly the same time, the woman complained to AMC officials, detailing a toxic work environment, harassment and sexual assault by Dumas.
The lawsuit references a months-long investigation, in which a third-party organization (working on behalf of the AMC) substantiated the woman’s complaints of sexual harassment, ultimately leading to Dumas being removed as the organization’s grand chief in August 2022.
The plaintiff was similarly suspended, pending the results of the investigation, which were released to her July 30, 2022.
Dumas’s lawyer, identified on court documents, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The WPS was unable to provide any comment on the allegations, nor say whether Dumas is currently under criminal investigation.
The plaintiff is seeking damages of $426,000, to compensate for mental anguish, loss of dignity and therapeutic and medical care.
She declined to comment when contacted Tuesday.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.