A Quebec judge has given the greenlight to another class action lawsuit targetting a religious order that has already had to pay out millions in a record settlement in a separate class action alleging sexual abuse of students by its priests.
The Clercs de St-Viateur announced this morning it would no longer be contesting this second class action lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by members of the religious order since the 1950s.
Over 20 men alleging they were victims were present in the courtroom.
The Clercs de St-Viateur and the Montreal Institute for the Deaf (now the Institut Raymond-Dewar) paid out a settlement of a record $30M to 150 sexual abuse victims in 2016. That lawsuit was launched in 2010 and authorized in 2012.
One of the lawyers in the current case Virginie Dufresne-Lemire said this lawsuit goes further.
"We're targetting every victim who has been sexually assaulted by a member of the Clercs de St-Viateur. So it's all the victims, it's not just one institution," said Dufresne-Lemire in an interview with CJAD 800.
So far 80 victims have come forward. Dufresne-Lemire said there could be hundreds of others. They are putting out notices for other possible victims to step forward.
"For many of them, they never talked about it because they did not know. They thought they were the only one and almost everyone tells us this. So to know there are other victims, I think this can help," said Dufresne-Lemire.
This new class action lawsuit was launched in November of last year.
Anyone needing more information can contact the law firm at actioncsv@adwavocats.com or (514) 522-0505.