This man says working at Scouts Canada gave him PTSD. Now he's suing the organization
CBC
Stephen Greensides rubs a small, smooth stone between the palms of his hands.
It seems to bring him comfort, as does his two-year-old dog Belle, who sits beside Greensides as he talks about the job he says changed his life forever.
"I don't feel any self-worth or value. I feel like I'm a burden on my family. I feel like a total failure," said the 49-year-old from Rockland, Ont.
For four years, Greensides worked in Scouts Canada's safe scouting department, handling safety complaints from the organization's 42,000 youth members and 13,000 volunteers across the country.
He alleges the traumatic nature of many of those complaints caused him to develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Greensides is now on long-term disability and believes he may never be fit to return to work.
"It's overwhelming. Concentration is gone. I don't remember things. I can't focus and I can't relax. I'm on constant alert," he said.
It's an outcome he believes could have been avoided, and it's why Greensides is now suing the organization for up to $2.1 million in damages.
In his statement of claim filed last year, Greensides alleges "his mental health was irreversibly damaged" from his time with Scouts Canada because of "repeated exposure in responding to sexual and violent traumas" and "doing so with inadequate supports, assistance and supervision."
His lawyer Rob Talach said the case raises questions not just about the ongoing sexual abuse within Scouts Canada, but also the "very negative effects on the people to have to come in and clean it up."
Scouts Canada said it's unable to respond to CBC's question about this story due to the lawsuit. However, in a statement the organization said "nothing is more important to Scouts Canada than the safety of the youth in our care."
In its statement of defence, Scouts Canada denied Greensides's allegations, asserting that the organization met or exceeded its responsibilities as an employer.
"Safe Scouting is a key priority for Scouts Canada, and the organization has been a Canadian leader in youth safety protocols for years," the statement reads.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Greensides began his role with Scouts Canada in 2016 after years of volunteering with the organization. He was excited to support its mission of helping youth become well-rounded individuals prepared for success in the world.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.