$129-M segregation-lawsuit deal good for Manitoba: judge

A judge has said the $129-million class-action settlement that must be paid by the Manitoba government over the use of segregation in provincial jails is a good deal for taxpayers.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Theodor Bock approved the settlement — in which the province didn’t admit liability — in June, before issuing his full written decision July 22.

“Although Manitoba is responsible to fund a significant settlement, it benefits considerably from the certainty created by capping its total liability to the class, the release of all claims, costs saved or avoided altogether as a result of the appointment of Proactio as the claims administrator and the development of the agreed-upon claims process, and the discontinuance of all litigation concerning this matter,” he wrote.

The judge said class members “comprise a group of vulnerable and marginalized people who endured significant periods of segregation, some under very severe conditions.”

Koskie Minsky LLP, a class-action law firm based in Ontario, filed the suit in May 2021 on behalf of two Manitoba jail inmates — an adult and a youth — who had both been put in segregation for extended periods of time.

The representative plaintiffs in the case are Virgil Charles Gamblin, a man in his 30s who was an inmate in The Pas jail, and an inmate of the Manitoba Youth Centre who was sent there when he was 17.

The class action argued the provincial government improperly placed certain inmates in solitary confinement for lengthy and indefinite periods in its youth and adult jails, which breached their Charter rights and caused lasting harm.

Bock’s written decision includes details about how the settlement was reached and how it will be administered.

After the lawsuit was certified as a class action, the matter was “extensively” case-managed ahead of a five-week trial that was scheduled to begin in November 2025 and continue into March and April 2026, said Bock.

But on the day the trial was to begin, lawyers for the plaintiffs gave the provincial government a formal offer to settle parts of the matter for $35 million.

The trial was adjourned and the lawyers and government negotiated a deal to settle the action for $129 million. A written agreement was completed in February, and approved by the judge in June.

Bock said the plaintiffs faced serious risk in advancing the case, if a settlement hadn’t been reached.

“To begin, the ultimate outcome of the case was far from certain,” wrote Bock.

The province raised several defences that could be argued, including that the kind of segregation corrections officials used in Manitoba jails did not constitute solitary confinement, said Bock.

The class includes three groups who were put in segregation in Manitoba between 2012 and June 2026 — youths, seriously mentally ill inmates and inmates held in segregation for more than 15 days continuously.

Those individuals will be eligible to claim settlement payouts from Proactio, a professional services firm that will administer the settlement fund.

More than 1,900 individuals have contacted Koskie Minsky seeking to be included.

The maximum a youth can be paid is $100,000, $91,000 for the seriously mentally ill and $88,000 for inmates held for prolonged periods.

The lawyers involved in the class action will receive $33.7 million in fees. The two representative plaintiffs will receive honorariums of $20,000 each, on top of claims.

The provincial government may receive up to $12 million if money is left in the fund after it has been distributed.

As part of the settlement, the class-action legal team will also meet with Manitoba corrections officials several times over two years to discuss potential policy reforms to improve conditions in confinement cells in provincial jails.

Bock said the plaintiffs could not have secured that right after a trial.

A government spokesman said the province is “actively reviewing the policies and practices of administrative segregation” in its correctional facilities.

“The safety and security of all inmates and staff who work in our correctional facilities is our government’s priority in these situations,” said the spokesman.

“Our government is committed to making this process safe and secure for inmates and staff in our correctional facilities.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca