Trial set for 2015 in RCMP sexual harassment lawsuit
Posted August 27, 2013 3:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A former RCMP spokeswoman whose claims of sexual harassment started a wave of lawsuits against the force has received a trial date, with the case scheduled to head to court in 2015.
Catherine Galliford, who was the force’s public face during the Air India and Robert Pickton cases, filed a lawsuit last year, alleging years of abuse that included sexual assaults, harassment and intimidation.
A notice filed in B.C. Supreme Court indicates the trial will start on Feb. 16, 2015, and that 30 days have been set aside to hear the case.
Galliford first outlined her claims in media interviews in the fall of 2011, and since then several other women have filed similar lawsuits, including one who is attempting to launch a class-action case.
Galliford’s lawsuit names the federal and provincial governments, several officers and an RCMP-employed doctor, and says she faced abuse throughout her nearly two-decade career.
All the defendants have filed statements of defence denying Galliford’s allegations, and the federal government has cast her as an alcoholic who refused treatment and caused her own misfortune.
The force is now seeking to discharge Galliford, who says she suffers from post-traumatic stress.
