BC Human Rights Tribunal Issues Landmark Sexual Assault Ruling

The BC Human Rights Tribunal just released a ruling in a most peculiar and shocking case, awarding 100’000$ in damages for injury to dignity and self-respect to a victim of sexual assault and human trafficking essentially enslaved with cocaine by her employer.

The details are nearly unspeakable, so I’ll just copy this one paragraph from the ruling:

Ms. L worked as a personal executive assistant to Sydney Hayden and his companies, Clear Pacific Holdings Ltd. and Whitehawk Investments Ltd. During her employment, Mr. Hayden sexually assaulted and harassed Ms. L, withheld her wages, emotionally abused her, physically assaulted her, and abandoned her in a foreign country. He exploited her disability, a substance use disorder, to maintain control over her.

BC Human Rights Tribunal member Devyn Cousineau

It only gets more graphic from there. Here’s the link to the ruling for those interested in the details of the allegations: Ms. L v. Clear Pacific Holdings Ltd. and others, 2024 BCHRT 14. I shall spare the rest of you with details of a case which looks better suited for the criminal justice system.

This case has more peculiarities. For one, it deemed admissible allegations which took place abroad due to the employment relationship between the complainant and the respondent, the latter which is based in BC.

Another is that the respondent chose not to participate in the process, which is fairly rare. Unlike in other jurisdictions, a respondent may not acknowledge the complaint, in which case a hearing is held in absentia instead of a default ruling being entered in the complainant’s favour; this course of action is nevertheless considered unwise.

And then for the first time I’ve seen an empathic afterword to a ruling, which I’d rather quote verbatim:

[87]           The last question that Ms. L’s lawyer asked her during the hearing was “what are you proud of?” She answered:

I never thought I would be able to get to today and be able to do this. This is for me like taking back my power and being able to tell my truth. My parents have seen a lot of changes in me over the four years but I am really hard on myself … they’re not fast for me and I don’t see those changes like they see them. But I am very thankful that I am drug free and smoke free and, from that aspect, living a clean life. I am thankful for all the support that I have received with the counsellors, with you, with victim services, everybody that’s been a part of seeing me get through this and help me… whether that’s even just like walking out in public, going into a store, getting on a bus. Those small things. But everybody has played a role in getting me to that and it’s been years. I still have a lot of work to do but I have a lot of people rooting for me. I know now. So many people just want to see me be me again… I want to have joy. I want to be me again, I do. I’m hopeful.

I commend Ms. L for the strength it took to pursue this process to its end, and I wish her all the best.

Ms. L v. Clear Pacific Holdings Ltd. and others, 2024 BCHRT 14