Woman accusing ex-grand chief of sex assault wants countersuit tossed

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This article was published 23/01/2024 (639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman who is suing the former grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs for alleged sexual assault, and who was then counter-sued by the ousted official, wants his counterclaim tossed.

The woman, who the Free Press is not naming due to the sexual nature of the allegations, filed a lawsuit in Court of King’s Bench in late August last year, accusing former AMC grand chief Arlen Dumas of raping her in 2022 while both were employees of the organization.

The initial claim detailed that there were at least eight alleged instances of sexual battery, including one accusation 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.”

Dumas filed a statement of defence and counterclaim Nov. 2, alleging the woman falsely accused him of rape in a deliberate attempt to ruin his reputation.

The woman filed a reply and a defence Nov. 23 in which she denied the allegations and said there are “fatal deficiencies” with his countersuit.

The former chief argues the woman’s “frivolous, vexatious and scandalous” allegations damaged his reputation, leading to humiliations, distress and a loss of status and business opportunities.

In the Nov. 23 court papers, the woman said she is pursuing the claim not to impact his reputation, but to seek compensation for the damages and injuries she sustained as a result of his alleged conduct.

In his statement of defence, Dumas denied all allegations against him, saying he acted in a “professional and appropriate manner” at all times, and that any sexual contact was informed and consensual. The woman, in the Nov. 23 documents, said she was not in a capacity to give consent and that the burden of proving she did would be on Dumas.

His statement of defence went on to accuse the woman of misrepresenting their relationship in media interviews and in social media posts, amounting to defamation.

The woman denied any defamation occurred, and that if the court found there was defamation, that she was shielded from liability for fair comment on a matter of public interest. Her documents noted there had been significant media reporting about his ouster prior to her lawsuit and the interviews.

The woman asks the court to either dismiss the counterclaim, with costs, or recognize that she is shielded from liability.

Further, she submitted that his counterclaim ought to be stayed, pending the court hearing her initial claim on its merits, considering that if she is successful, his counterclaim cannot succeed.

At the time of the alleged incidents, the plaintiff was working in a new role at the First Nations governance organization, in which she interacted with Dumas daily.

Dumas was suspended as grand chief in March 2022, and then removed from the role five months later, after a third-party organization hired by the AMC investigated the accusation. The plaintiff claims to have been removed as a result of the investigation, which Dumas has denied.

The plaintiff was similarly suspended, pending the results of the investigation, which were released to her in a report July 30, 2022. The woman, in her Nov. 23 court papers, said the third-party investigation found that Dumas sexually harassed her and that her description of events was more credible than Dumas’s.

None of the claims have been tested in court and police have not laid any criminal charges against Dumas.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca