Halifax fundraiser suing Clearwater Seafoods co-founder, alleging sexual misconduct

A professional fundraiser in Halifax is suing one of the co-founders of Clearwater Seafoods for $300,000, alleging he made repeated, unwelcome sexual comments toward her that made her fearful he would assault her during a work trip in 2014.

In a notice of action filed at the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on Sept. 28, Liz LeClair alleges Colin MacDonald made inappropriate sexual comments toward her over a period of five years after meeting him through her fundraising work at the IWK Foundation in 2013.

LeClair's role at the foundation required her to meet and communicate with major donors, including MacDonald, who was 31 years her senior and married at the time, the court documents allege.

MacDonald has not yet been served with the statement of claim and has not filed a statement of defence. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

CBC News requested an interview with MacDonald but did not hear back in time for publication.

The CBC previously reported on LeClair's allegations but did not name MacDonald because LeClair was not pursuing legal action and the allegations would not be tested in a legal setting.

In an op-ed published by the CBC in 2019, LeClair wrote about harassment in the non-profit fundraising sector without naming any alleged perpetrators. The incident described at the beginning of the op-ed did not involve MacDonald, she previously told CBC.

The civil suit filed last month alleges MacDonald made the comments toward LeClair during in-person meetings, phone calls and in text messages and emails.

LeClair told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia that she has decided to take legal action and speak out about what she says happened during the road trip and how it left her traumatized, which is the basis of the civil court action.

LeClair previously filed several complaints to various organizations about MacDonald.

"This has been a long process. I have exhausted every possible reasonable avenue and have tried every possible way that I've been instructed to hold people accountable for the conduct that's taken place," she said in an interview that aired Wednesday. 

"And this is basically, at this point, the last possible recourse that I have available to me, and so that's why this has been filed."

LeClair's lawsuit says she did her best to deflect MacDonald's advances. But it alleges his comments escalated when he joined her on a business trip to Antigonish, N.S., to visit another donor in April 2014.

"During the two-and-a-half-hour drive, MacDonald made increasingly inappropriate comments," the statement of claim states.