Claims Process Concluded in City of Leduc Workplace Harassment Class Action Lawsuit
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Burnett, Duckworth & Palmer LLP (BD&P) announced today that the claims process for the class action lawsuit against The City of Leduc has now concluded. The class action sought damages for women who worked at the City of Leduc between 2002 and 2023 and who had suffered sexual assault, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
155 women who had worked at the City of Leduc came forward and had their claims approved. The total payout to these women was $9,527,500. This remains one of the highest per person payouts in Canadian legal history for workplace sexual misconduct.
On July 4, 2023, the Court of King's Bench approved a settlement to provide compensation to these women. At a hearing on January 31, 2025, the Plaintiffs asked the Court's permission to disclose the total number of claimants and the amounts paid out, the City of Leduc asked the Court not to allow the release of these numbers. On March 31, 2025, the Court dismissed the City of Leduc's request and allowed these numbers to be publicly disclosed.
Over the past 18 months, the parties have also participated in a restorative engagement process to allow women who suffered sexual assault, sexual harassment, and discrimination at the City of Leduc to communicate their experiences to the city's leadership.
On January 24, 2024, the Mayor of Leduc apologized to the women who worked at the City of Leduc.
Former Leduc Firefighter and plaintiff Christa Steele said: "When I started this journey, my goal was simple: to bring the truth to light. Because the truth, above all else, is what brings validation. It's what gives people peace. As we moved forward in the lawsuit we also wanted to ensure that class members would receive compensation they were entitled to as part of the class action. Over the past year, we have worked hard to reach as many women as possible and this has resulted in 155 women making claims and receiving over $9.5 million in settlements. I continue to be amazed at the bravery of all the women that have come forward. We hope these settlements can help with their long process of healing and let them know that they are not alone. Moving forward, we will continue to work and advocate for women to ensure that their voices are heard and to seek transparency and real change. I am grateful that we set a precedent and made history. We left a mark and I am proud of what we accomplished together."
BD&P's lead lawyer in this case, Robert Martz, spoke to these settlements, "Throughout this class action we have been amazed by the strength of the women that have come forward. This continued throughout the settlement process with so many women telling their story and making a claim. We recognize how hard this was for them and the bravery it took. We hope that through these settlements we have helped provide some small measure of recompense for these women."
Spokesperson Interviews
Robert Martz - Partner, BD&P LLP
Case Facts
The City of Leduc was sued in a class action lawsuit for their inaction against, and role in maintaining, sustained and systemic gender-based harassment and discrimination.
Instances of gender-based harassment, discrimination, assault and sexual assault within the Leduc Fire Department was ongoing for approximately 20 years.
Victims have suffered serious mental health and physical harm, PTSD, out-of-pocket expenses, violation of their personal dignity, and loss of income.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans dedicate some funding to courts, workforce agency, ag, but Democrats say it isn't enough
'The focus here is going to be on basically keeping our food safe and preventing disease from spreading,' Sen. Howard Marklein said at a press conference. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) Republicans and Democrats on the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee were divided Tuesday about the amount of money the state should invest in several state agencies including the Department of Workforce Development, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection. Republicans on the committee said they were making strategic and realistic investments in priority areas, while Democrats said Republicans' investments wouldn't make enough of an impact. The first divisive issue came up when the committee considered the budgets for Wisconsin's courts. Democrats proposed that the state provide an additional $2 million and 8 new positions for the creation of an Office of the Marshals of the Supreme Court that would provide security for the Court. Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) and Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said the need for the office has increased recently due to the number of threats the judges and justices are facing. 'Given the role that they play in our judiciary in order to be impartial, we shouldn't want them to be in danger or to fear for their safety or to have any outward pressures on them that would influence the case,' McGuire said. 'I believe it's important for the cause of justice. I believe it's important for the cause of safety.' Roys noted the inflammatory language that members of the Trump administration have used when talking about judges and justices, noting that Republicans have passed legislation before to help protect judges. She also noted that former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer was targeted and murdered at his home in 2022. 'It is really frightening… and the Supreme Court has made this request over numerous years because they understand better than any of us do what it's like to try to serve the public in this critically important but increasingly dangerous role,' Roys said. 'I am much less interested in putting people in prison after they have murdered a judge than I am in preventing our judges from being attacked or killed, so, this seems to me a tiny amount of money to do a really important task to protect the third branch of government and particularly our Supreme Court.' Republicans rejected Democrats' motion. Committee co-chair Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said at a press conference ahead of the meeting that the Wisconsin Capitol Police are tasked with protecting visitors, employees, legislators, the Court and anyone else in the building. 'They do a good job and continue to provide top-notch work here at the Capitol as part of security for everyone who works here,' Born said. The committee also voted 13-3 with Andraca joining Republicans to allocate an additional $10 million each year to counties for circuit court costs. The committee took action on portions of the budget for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), giving a boost to he agency's Meat Inspection Program and Division of Animal Health. 'The focus here is going to be on basically keeping our food safe and preventing the disease from spreading,' committee co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said. The Meat Inspection Program got an additional $2.7 million and two additional positions under the proposal approved by the committee. The program works to ensure the safety and purity of meat products sold in Wisconsin, including by inspecting the livestock and poultry slaughtering and processing facilities that are not already inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Division of Animal Health would get three additional employees that would be funded with about $500,000. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Wisconsin has 233 official meat establishments and 70 custom meat establishments that require state inspection. Roys said the proposal 'falls far short of what is needed,' noting that agriculture is a major economic driver in Wisconsin and the industry is under pressure due to actions being taken by the Trump administration. The USDA recently terminated its National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, which had been in place since 1971, and the administration has considered ending most of its routine food safety inspections work. 'That kind of uncertainty is exactly why we need to step up our work at the state level,' Roys said, adding that she hopes that Republicans 'consider funding at the appropriate level what our farmers…deserve.' Marklein noted that the committee's work on DATCP's part of the budget is not completed yet. 'This is a program that's had a shortfall year over year,' Andraca said, adding that she hopes 'members of this committee are vegetarians.' 'If there's one place that I wouldn't cut, it would probably be in meat inspection. If we're looking at places to take a little off the edge, food safety is not one of them, particularly in a time where we have avian flu and other diseases breaking out,' Andraca said. The committee also voted along party lines to invest additional funds in programs administered by the Department of Workforce Development, including $6 million in youth apprenticeship grants, $570,000 in early college credit program grants, $250,000 for the agency's commercial driver training grant program and $250,000 for the workforce training grants. Democrats had suggested that the committee dedicate $11 million for the youth apprenticeship program, which provides an opportunity for juniors and seniors in high school to get hands-on experience in a field alongside classroom instruction, but Republicans rejected it opting to put a little more than half of that towards the program. Andraca said the program is important for allowing youth to 'try out new skills and new jobs' and train to fill positions in Wisconsin and that the $6 million investment makes it seem like the program is 'pretty much getting gutted.' The program has steadily grown annually over the last several years at an estimated rate of 16%, although, according to the LFB, the number of additional students each year has declined going from a high of 1,923 additional students in 2022-23, to 1,703 more in 2023-24, and 1,430 in 2024-25. Andraca noted that the program currently operates on a sum certain model, meaning that there is a specific amount of money available and the size of a grant could vary depending on participation and available funds. If there is continued growth of 16% then the grant sizes could shrink. A sum sufficient model (which Democrats wanted) would mean that the agency's spending on the program isn't capped by a specific dollar amount. Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood) noted that the grants for students would likely grow from an average of about $900 currently to about $1,000 under the Republican proposal. 'This motion [is] at $6 million and $100 per award over the last budget, but we're supposed to believe it's gutting the program,' Quinn said. 'Welcome to the People's Republic of Madison where stuff like that happens a lot; $6 million in new money is a lot of money to most people but obviously the other side, it's gutting the program,' Born said, responding to Quinn. 'At some point when you're building a budget, you have to figure out a way to afford it, be reasonable in your investments, so maybe that's why we don't view a $6 million investment as gutting because we're trying to live within our means.' The committee approved $2.3 million to support the new Wisconsin History Center in downtown Madison for 2025-26 and $540,800 and six positions annually starting in 2026-27. Construction on the museum, which will be operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society, started in April and its opening is set for 2027. The Historical Society had requested the one-time funding of $2.3 million in 2025-26 as well as ongoing funding of $1.7 million annually — more than double the amount the committee approved — starting in 2026-27 to help with operational costs, including security, janitorial and maintenance services. It said without ongoing funding from the state it wouldn't be able to open and maintain the museum. It also said that it was not anticipating needing to request additional funding for the museum operations in future budget cycles if the request is funded. The committee also approved an additional $562,000 in one-time funding across the biennium for security and facilities improvements for the Historical Society's facilities and collections and $157,000 to cover estimated future increases in services costs. But the committee decreased funding for the Historical Society by $214,000 for estimated fuel and utilities costs. A law, 2023 Wisconsin Act 73, overhauled alcohol regulation in Wisconsin and created a new Division of Alcohol Beverages under the Department of Regulation tasked with preventing violations of the new laws. Republicans on the committee approved a motion to recategorize nine general DOR positions and over $900,000 to the Division of Alcohol Beverages to help with enforcement. It also transferred an attorney to the division and added $456,000 in funding for two more positions in the Division of Alcohol Beverages. Democrats said that Republicans on the committee were 'nickel and diming' the Department of Revenue with its proposal given that it recategorizes already existing positions rather than creating new ones. 'I do appreciate some of the efforts involved in this motion,' McGuire said, adding that he noticed there were 10 positions that were moved around. 'That seemed odd to me,' McGuire said. 'Were their feet up on their desk? They weren't collecting taxes at school time, or what were they doing? We want to be able to give the Department of Revenue tools they need to succeed, and frankly, the tools they need to provide resources to the state to make sure that everyone's on an even playing field so we can fund the priorities' of the state. The GOP proposal passed on a party-line vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Business Wire
26 minutes ago
- Business Wire
GCT Semiconductor Celebrates Major Milestone with Delivery of 5G Chipsets and Modules to Customers
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GCT Semiconductor Holding Inc. ('GCT') (NYSE: GCTS), a leading designer and supplier of advanced 5G and 4G semiconductor solutions, today announced the initial delivery of its new 5G chipsets to its customers, including Airspan Networks and Orbic North America, LLC, among others, for their immediate evaluation. GCT will continue to provide samples in the next several weeks to complete the initial demand from its lead customers. These samples are being provided in both chip and module forms, depending on customer needs. 'We are thrilled to achieve this major milestone and now have our 5G chips in the hands of our customers,' said John Schlaefer, CEO of GCT. 'We are thrilled to achieve this major milestone and now have our 5G chips in the hands of our customers,' said John Schlaefer, CEO of GCT. 'Our chips are currently being evaluated and we're eager to receive positive feedback from our customers. Our first priority is to focus on mid-tier applications and immediate demand for the growing 5G market. This will include the development of a Verizon-certified module. We're also excited to expand sampling to all our customers in the near future.' After the evaluation process is complete, GCT will work with customers to optimize their device performance, and to determine production demands. GCT is fully prepared to meet these demands, supported by a robust supply chain built on years of proven experience delivering high-performance solutions efficiently and reliably. About GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. GCT is a leading fabless designer and supplier of advanced 5G and 4G LTE semiconductor solutions. GCT's market-proven solutions have enabled fast and reliable 4G LTE connectivity to numerous commercial devices such as CPEs, mobile hotspots, routers, M2M applications and smartphones, etc., for the world's top wireless carriers. GCT's system-on-chip solutions integrate radio frequency, baseband modem and digital signal processing functions, therefore offering complete 4G and 5G platform solutions with small form factors, low power consumption, high performance, high reliability, and cost-effectiveness. For more information, visit Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements – This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1955. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding delivery of 5G chipset and completion of customer evaluation processes. Words such as 'believe,' 'project,' 'expect,' 'anticipate,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'strategy,' 'future,' 'opportunity,' 'plan,' 'may,' 'should,' 'will,' 'would,' 'will be,' 'will continue,' 'will likely result,' and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside the Company's control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause actual future events to differ materially from the expected results, include, but are not limited to: the ability of the Company to develop its 5G products and generate revenue; the ability of the Company to enter into and meet the obligations under partnership and collaboration agreements; the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitability and retain its key employees; the Company's financial and business performance, including the Company's financial projections and business metrics; changes in the Company's strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, forecasts, projected costs, prospects and plans; the Company's inability to anticipate the future market demands and future needs of its customers; the impact of component shortages, suppliers' lack of production capacity, natural disasters or pandemics on the Company's sourcing operations and supply chain; the Company's future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; the ability of the Company to raise sufficient capital to fund its operations; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, including the growth of the 5G market; the risk that the Company may not be able to repay its debt; the risk of economic downturns that affects the Company's business operation and financial performance; the risk that the Company may not be able to develop and design its products acceptable to its customers; actual or potential conflicts of interest of the Company's management with its public stockholders; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company's filings with SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 and those disclosures under the "Risk Factors" section therein. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Posthaste: Canada's work-life balance standing slips globally
Canada has slipped in a worldwide ranking of work-life balance, but still remains well ahead of its southern neighbour. The country ranks seventh on Remote Technology Inc.'s Global Life-Work Balance Index 2025, falling from fifth last year, but is still the only country in the Americas to crack the top 10. Canada's score increased compared to last year, meaning its drop in the rankings is a result of other countries improving. The country scored highly for its statutory sick pay, universal health care and support for LGBTQ+ inclusivity. 'Canadian workplaces tend to value punctuality and dependability, but employees typically maintain a healthy separation between work and family life,' the report said. New Zealand landed in the top spot for the third year in a row, with an index score of 86.87, in part due to a strong minimum wage, happy workers and statutory sick pay. 'Why is New Zealand so life-work-balance-friendly? Well, it helps to be surrounded by such diverse, breathtaking scenery, but while the country doesn't rank at No. 1 for every factor we assessed, it scores consistently well across the study,' the report said. New Zealand and Ireland (81.17) are the only two countries to score above 80 on the ranking; Belgium (75.91), Germany (74.65) and Norway (74.2) rounded out the top five, while Canada's score was 73.46. At the other end of the spectrum, the United States (31.17) ranked 59th of the 60 countries in the report, above only Nigeria (26.67). Still, the report said the U.S.'s low rank can provide opportunity for employers looking to attract talent. 'Statutory provisions for annual leave, sick leave, social security and health care are comparatively low in the U.S.,' the report said. 'That means employers who can provide these benefits as part of an employee-focused (system) will find great success when attracting and retaining top-quality U.S. candidates.' While Canada ranks high globally when it comes to work-life balance, there is certainly some room for improvement. Work has interfered with 32 per cent of Canadians' home and family life, according to a 2024 report by Statistics Canada. The agency also said 33 per cent of Canadians are unable to complete personal tasks at home due to their work commitments. to get Posthaste delivered straight to your road trips to the U.S. from Canada have fallen for the fifth straight month as Canadians look to stay local amid a trade war. Return trips by vehicle among Canadians fell 38.1 per cent in compared to a year ago. More than 2.5 million fewer cars have crossed the border since January compared to the first five months of 2024. Canadians made up more than 25 per cent of visitors to the U.S. last year, but many Canadians are looking to fight back against protectionist U.S. trade policies this year. Read more. Conference of Montreal Day 3 Today's data: Canadian building permits for April, U.S. consumer price index for May Today's earnings: Oracle Corp., Chewy Inc., Victoria's Secret & Co., Dollarama Inc. Canadian businesses trading with U.S. look to 'pivot' as profits decline and expenses rise Bye bye, Beer Stores: Retailer lists 10 additional locations that will close in August Lockheed jet deal to cost Canada more than $27 billion, auditor says Smucker says tariff-fuelled price hikes will weigh on profit For those looking to retire in the next few years and use profits from a home downsizing as a nest egg, be prepared for disappointment when it comes to the exact size of that nest egg. As Jason Heath puts it, Canada's real estate is under pressure and may be for some time, meaning anyone banking on profits from a sale should temper expectations. Read more here. Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at wealth@ with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we'll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we'll keep your name out of it, of course). Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister's Financial Post column can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won't want to miss. Plus check his mortgage rate page for Canada's lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily. Visit the Financial Post's YouTube channel for interviews with Canada's leading experts in business, economics, housing, the energy sector and more. Today's Posthaste was written by Ben Cousins with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg. Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at posthaste@ Canada's unemployment rate could reach 7.5% on still strong immigration Canadian businesses showing signs of strain not seen since 2009
