File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Jill Sperling

RCMP settlement

After latest settlement, former Kamloops Mountie says plenty more lawsuits to come

Jul 8, 2019 | 4:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — A former RCMP officer says the settlement reached for women who worked or volunteered for the national police force is far from the end of legal action against the RCMP.

Lawyers for women who worked or volunteered for the RCMP who experienced gender or sexual harassment may be eligible for compensation under the settlement of a class-action lawsuit.

Lawyers say the total value of the settlement could reach $100 million but that will depend on how many eligible claims are received.

A news release from Klein Lawyers on Monday (July 8) says the settlement includes a confidential independent claims process led by female assessors with eligible payments ranging from $10,000 to $220,000 for a proven claim.

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The class-action is subject to approval by the Federal Court, which certified the class-action lawsuit last week.

Rob Creasser of the Mounted Police Professional Association says the lawsuit exposed a long history of harassment within the RCMP.

“The RCMP is a para-military organization that I think there was no checks and balances on behaviour of people that had power within the organization for decades,” Creasser said. “We’re starting to see that manifest itself in these types of lawsuits.”

Creasser says there are other cases in the wings that involve male victims of harassment as well.

He does not believe the lawsuits will change behaviours.

“What needs to be in place is something that I strove for for many years, is to have a system of representation that takes care of the frontline and makes people that are further up in rank accountable for their actions and that has never been present in the RCMP workplace,” Creasser said.

— With files from the Canadian Press.