Latest news with #LegacyChristianAcademy
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Saskatoon judge dismisses $25M lawsuit against Christian school, church
A Saskatoon Court of King's Bench judge has dismissed a $25-million class action lawsuit against Mile Two Church and its associated private Christian school. Justice Rochelle Wempe dismissed the civil suit in a written decision on June 3. When the lawsuit was launched in August 2022, it named 22 defendants and alleged systemic abuse of students at the church and school — formerly known as Legacy Christian Academy. Wempe ruled there was 'abuse of process.' In her decision, she said the plaintiffs failed to 'immediately' disclose settlement agreements with three defendants. According to Wempe, plaintiffs settled with Stephanie Case in November of 2023, and Fran Thevenot and Tracy Johnson in February of 2024. Claims against four other named defendants were also dropped. Wempe wrote defendants were informed about the settlement agreements five months after Case signed and two months after Thevenot and Johnson signed. She noted they were only made aware of the settlements because Mile Two's lawyers made 'repeated requests for information from plaintiffs.' She said the settlement agreements 'significantly' altered the litigation landscape. Wempe said the terms of agreement stated the settling defendants would provide testimony and affidavits and would not take any formal 'adversarial position against the plaintiffs.' 'The settlement agreements had the effect of them switching sides and cooperating with the plaintiffs,' Wempe wrote. The plaintiffs, represented by Scharfstein Law, argued Mile Two and the other defendants were not hurt by the failure to disclose the settlements. Wempe says no prejudice is required for the immediate disclosure rule to come into effect. The plaintiffs also argued that dismissing the lawsuit would be 'unfair and unjust' because there is no case law indicating that the immediate disclosure rule applies in Saskatchewan. 'While I have some sympathy for this argument, I note that there is significant case law from three provinces dating back to 2009 which has clearly set out the immediate disclosure rule in civil proceedings,' Wempe wrote. The plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal on Monday. The appeal argues Wempe erred in determining that the immediate disclosure rule for settlement agreements applies in Saskatchewan. The appeal also argues Wempe erred in determining that the legal test for abuse of process could be met without finding prejudice. 'Our clients were extremely disappointed in this decision, and we're going to push forward with the claim,' lawyer Grant Scharfstein told CTV News. Scharfstein said he's hoping the appeal will be heard by fall. CTV News reached out to the lawyers representing Mile Two Church Inc., but did not get a response by publishing time.
CBC
09-06-2025
- CBC
Judge dismisses $25M lawsuit against Saskatoon Christian church, school, citing abuse of process
Social Sharing A Saskatoon judge has dismissed a $25-million class action lawsuit launched in 2022 against Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church. Court of King's Bench Justice Rochelle Wempe stayed the suit in a written decision on June 3. The original statement of claim named 22 defendants and alleged systemic abuse of students at the school and church. Wempe dismissed the claim, citing abuse of process. "The plaintiffs in this matter failed to immediately disclose settlement agreements they reached with three named defendants," she wrote. "I also find the settlement agreements changed the adversarial landscape of the litigation by causing the settling defendants to switch sides." In the judgment, Wempe wrote that former Legacy Christian staffer Stephanie Case settled in November 2023, followed by Fran Thevenot and Tracey Johnson in February 2024. In roughly the same period, claims were also dropped against four others affiliated with the school and church. The three settlement agreements were not given to the remaining defendants until five months after Case signed, and two months after Thevenot and Johnson signed, and "only disclosed after Mile Two independently learned of the discontinuances and made repeated requests for information from the plaintiffs," Wempe wrote. These were not insignificant developments, she said. "The settlement agreements had the effect of them switching sides," she wrote. "The terms of the agreements specifically provided that the settling defendants would co-operate, make themselves available to the plaintiffs and their experts, provide affidavits and sworn responses to written interrogators, attend questioning, disclosure and production of documents, attend as a witness at trial and provide testimony which does not vary from their written responses." The plaintiffs said that Mile Two and the other defendants were not hurt by the failure to disclose the settlements. Wempe wrote that is not the point. "The cases in this regard are clear — no actual prejudice is required for the immediate disclosure rule to be triggered," she said. Scharfstein Law in Saskatoon is representing the plaintiffs. Grant Scharfstein said the firm drafted an appeal on June 9 and intend to file it that day. "The Chambers Judge erred in law in determining that the immediate disclosure rule for settlement agreements applies in Saskatchewan," the appeal notice said. It also said the judge "mixed fact and law" by determining that the settlement agreements "changed entirely the litigation landscapes."
CBC
26-05-2025
- CBC
Trial of former private Christian school administrator cancelled, next steps unclear
Social Sharing A former administrator charged with assaulting students at a private Christian school in Saskatoon was scheduled to have a jury trial this week. But while the jury was told to go home and the court was expecting a guilty plea on Monday, that didn't happen. Ken Schultz, a former director and vice-principal at Christian Centre Academy, is charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly striking students with a wooden paddle in the early 2000s. He is also charged with sexual assault. Christian Centre Academy has since been renamed Legacy Christian Academy, then Valour Academy. Schultz had elected to have a jury trial, but earlier this month re-elected to have a trial by judge alone. A resolution to the case was expected to happen in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench on Monday. However, his lawyer Shea Neudorf said in court Monday that "discussions broke down" with Schultz when they were discussing "plea comprehension" — essentially, what's involved in a guilty plea — and the defence team was "not in a position to proceed." She asked Justice Krista Zerr for an adjournment until Friday. Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo told the judge she had been prepared to proceed until she was told the defence would be applying for an adjournment. The judge granted the adjournment and scheduled a conference call between herself, the lawyers and Schultz on Friday afternoon. She said the reason for holding a conference call rather a court appearance was an "attempt to avoid members of the public and interested parties attending court if the matter is not going to proceed in a substantive way on Friday." They're expected to discuss Friday whether they'll be setting a court date for an anticipated joint submission and sentencing, or whether the defence lawyers will be withdrawing and Schultz will have to find a new lawyer and set new trial dates. Schultz is not the only administrator from the school charged with hitting students with a wooden paddle. Last week, a jury found Duff Friesen, a former principal, guilty of one charge of assault with a weapon and not guilty on three others. He is awaiting sentencing. There is a publication ban on all the evidence at that trial, as Friesen has another jury trial, on seven similar charges, set for September. John Olubobokun, a former director at the school, stood trial on nine counts of assault with a weapon. The provincial court judge in his case heard closing arguments earlier this month and is scheduled to give her verdict on July 21.
CBC
22-05-2025
- CBC
Jury acquits former Legacy Christian Academy principal accused of paddling students on 3 of 4 charges
A jury has acquitted Duff Arthur Friesen, the former principal of Legacy Christian Academy in Saskatoon, on three of four assault charges after he was accused of hitting students with a wooden paddle two decades ago. The six men and six women on the jury deliberated for about five hours Wednesday before delivering the verdict to Justice Natasha Crooks at Court of King's Bench. There is a court-ordered ban on publishing any evidence from the trial because Friesen has a second jury trial, on seven similar charges, set for September. Friesen's lawyer, Daniel Mol, said outside court that he would be appealing the one guilty count. Friesen declined to comment. He faced a total of 11 counts of assault, all stemming from allegations that, as principal of the private Christian school in the 2003-04 school year, he hit students with a wooden paddle. The school has since changed its name to Valour Academy.
CBC
12-05-2025
- CBC
1st of 2 jury trials begins for former principal of Saskatoon private Christian school accused of assault
The former principal of a private Christian school in Saskatoon is getting his day in court. Duff Arthur Friesen's jury trial at Court of King's Bench before Justice Natasha Crooks began Monday in Saskatoon. Friesen is facing 11 counts of assault, all stemming from allegations that, as principal of Legacy Christian Academy in the 2003-2004 school year, he hit students with a wooden paddle. The school has since changed its name to Valour Academy. Seven days have been set aside this month for the trial. It will deal with four of the charges, with the remaining seven examined in a separate jury trial in September. Crooks granted a publication ban requested by Friesen. Her order prevents reporting on "any evidence led, submissions made, exhibits filed, or victim impact statements in the event sentencing is required," she wrote April 7. "To be clear, this publication ban does not extend to the verdict rendered in the May Jury Trial, any plea which may be entered in relation to the charges, nor to any sentence which may be imposed by the Court." In his application, Friesen argued that ongoing media coverage of the trial this month may prejudice the jury in the September trial.
