Class action over school abuse allegations certified

A class action lawsuit over abuse allegations at a province-run school for deaf people has been certified by a Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench judge.

The application for certification listed three plaintiffs who attended the R.D.J. Williams Provincial School for the Deaf, also known as the Saskatchewan School for the Deaf. The school was open in Saskatoon between 1931 and 1991, but those involved in the suit were students between 1955 and 1991.

The suit alleges students were physically, sexually and emotionally abused by their teacher, staff and other students. It claims these acts were caused by the province’s negligence, or that of its agents. It also claims breach of trust and breach of fiduciary duty.

In the decision, the judge went through the criteria for a class action, finding they had been sufficiently met – though a couple of the criteria had been conditionally met and needed some adjustments.

Among other factors, the judge considered that the plaintiffs would be part of a group that could “fairly be characterized as vulnerable and disadvantaged” and having a class action would mean those people wouldn’t have to actively participate, and as such would be spared the “anxiety and expense” of individual trials.

Editor’s Note: the story has been amended to correct the dates the school was open.