Canadian Fire Department Settles Class Action Sexual Harassment Suit

A class action sexual harassment lawsuit brought against a Canadian fire department has resulted in a novel settlement that will award victims between $10,000 and $285,000. The suit was brought last year by two female firefighters against the Leduc Fire Services, in Ontario.

Christa Steele and Mindy Smith reported sexual misconduct, sexual assaults, and systemic harassment, bullying and discrimination to their bosses, but no action was taken to address the problem. After their concerns became public, an independent investigation found a “psychologically unsafe and harmful culture […. Existed within the department, and that] serious, systemic and long-standing misconduct […. occurred that management] failed to provide a duty of care to its employees.” The fire chief resigned and two other members left the department.

The settlement is the first of its kind in Canada where a fire department will pay damages to a class of employees for sexual harassment. The class consists of female employees over the past twenty (20) years. According to Global News, the city will pay most class members between $10,000 and $95,000. However, members who experienced “exceptional harm” may receive up to $285,000.

Global News quoted attorney Robert Martz as saying:

• Once the settlement is approved, the women will have an opportunity to make a claim.
• It’s a confidential process that’s done on paper, no interviews or anything like that, and an independent third party will decide where they fit within the different categories and what their compensation would be.
• There’s an opportunity for women to participate in what we’ve called a restorative engagement process, where they can meet privately with leadership at Leduc to explain what’s happened and how things need to change or can change.
• There’s also requirements for Leduc to consider implementing a whistle-blower policy, to make further changes to its respectful workplace policy that the plaintiffs have flagged.
• The goal of the settlement and the case was to get real compensation for the women who had suffered and to affect some real change at Leduc and at fire departments and municipalities across Canada, and I think the settlement does that.
• The legal system needs to evolve to hold employers accountable who tolerate this type of systemic sexual misconduct, and to encourage women who suffer this type of workplace abuse to come forward.

Update: July 4, 2023: The court has approved of the proposed settlement. More on the story.