Top court quashes Ottawa's attempt to throw out RCMP harassment lawsuit
CBC
The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the federal government's attempt to stop a massive class-action lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from going ahead.
The two lead plaintiffs, veteran RCMP members Geoffrey Greenwood and Todd Gray, allege "systemic negligence" in how the national police force has handled bullying and harassment allegations.
A Federal Court judge certified their lawsuit — which is seeking more than $1.1 billion — as a class action in 2020, and last fall another judge dismissed the Crown's arguments seeking to de-certify the class-action claim.
The Attorney General of Canada then appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing an RCMP member's claims of harassment and bullying can be addressed by filing a grievance or harassment complaint, or through an internal RCMP Code of Conduct investigation.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the application for leave to appeal. As usual, the top court didn't give its reasons.
Greenwood and Gray allege that internal channels within the RCMP to handle complaints of bullying and harassment are ineffective because they depend on the chain of command. Their statement of claim says that chain of command is often made up of people who were either responsible for the offending behaviour or acted to protect others.
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