Stephen Kakfwi, a former premier of the Northwest Territories, is involved in a $1.25 million lawsuit for allegedly sexually harassing a young woman he mentored through a scholarship program.
Cherry Smiley filed the lawsuit against the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation claiming $500,000 for breaching its contractual duty of good faith and honesty, $500,000 for breaching her confidence and $250,000 in punitive damages.
No allegations have been proven in court and no counterclaims have yet been filed from the defendant.
Smiley, a PhD student researching violence against Indigenous women and girls, was accepted into the Trudeau foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 scholarship program and subsequently paired with Kakfwi as a mentor.
The two met for the first time at the foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 Summer Institute conference in St. JohnSA国际影视传媒檚, N.L., from June 3 to 6, 2018.
Smiley alleges she and Kakfwi went for dinner on their first night in St. JohnSA国际影视传媒檚. In the notice of civil claim documents outlining the allegations, Smiley, represented by lawyer Kathryn Marshall, describes Kakfwi inviting her to visit his home in Yellowknife SA国际影视传媒渨hich made the plaintiff uncomfortable,SA国际影视传媒� the court document states.
After dinner, the pair took a taxi back to the hotel and said their goodbyes in the empty hotel lobby, according to the submission.
Smiley alleges that Kakfwi then SA国际影视传媒渟uddenly moved his body extremely close to (hers) and grabbed her upper arm, close to her breast, and squeezed it. He proceeded to hold on to her upper arm for an extended period, rubbing and massaging it.SA国际影视传媒�
At a session later on in the retreat, the civil claim describes a discussion about the Me-Too movement where Kakfwi disclosed that he had once been accused of sexual harassment and called the accuser a liar. SA国际影视传媒�(Smiley) and other attendees were extremely disturbed by this comment,SA国际影视传媒� the claim states.
On June 6, 2018, a gala dinner was held to mark the end of the Summer Institute. At the gala, Smiley alleges Kakfwi pulled Smiley close to him, rubbed her upper arm in the same manner as before and invited her to visit him in Yellowknife.
Upon returning home, the document describes Smiley as feeling SA国际影视传媒渟haken, distressed and upset,SA国际影视传媒� which was compounded by her reliance on a reference letter from Kakfwi to continue to receive the foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 scholarship.
When foundation president Pascale Fournier called to ask Smiley how things were going with her mentor, she told the president about the incidents, following up with an email describing the occurrence and advising that she was not comfortable moving forward with Kakfwi as her mentor.
Later that month, Smiley spoke with the foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 then CEO, Morris Rosenberg, who told her she was SA国际影视传媒渂lowing things out of proportion,SA国际影视传媒� and questioned Smiley in a manner the claim states SA国际影视传媒渨as clear (he) did not believe her.SA国际影视传媒�
Smiley said she was also shocked to learn the foundation did not have a sexual harassment policy. She further engaged the president of the foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 board of directors, describing the events and assuring that SA国际影视传媒渟he had not misinterpreted the incidents.SA国际影视传媒�
In his reply, the board of directors president said, SA国际影视传媒淚 understand your email and can assure you that we are taking these events and a few other related events very seriously,SA国际影视传媒� though the notice of claim notes there is no explanation of the SA国际影视传媒渙ther related events.SA国际影视传媒�
On Aug. 2, 2018 Smiley was informed that Kakfwi would no longer be her mentor and asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). SA国际影视传媒淭he Plaintiff felt extremely uncomfortable with this request, which was solely focused on silencing her,SA国际影视传媒� her claim states.
In the submission, Smiley describes a meeting later that month with two board members SA国际影视传媒渇ocused on pressuring (her) to sign an NDA. She claims they told her that it would be SA国际影视传媒渂ad for herSA国际影视传媒� if the incident became public.
Smiley describes feeling SA国际影视传媒渢hreatened, intimidated, silenced and scared.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淚t was clear that the foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 goal was to silence her as quickly as possible rather than address the issue,SA国际影视传媒� as was written in the notice of claim.
SA国际影视传媒淭he plaintiff lived in constant fear that her scholarship funds would be cancelled at any moment, and she relied on the funds to support her cost of living and pay for her studies.SA国际影视传媒�
Dyane Adam, vice-chair of the board of directors at the Trudeau foundation, said that SA国际影视传媒渢he foundation has a different interpretation of several allegations.SA国际影视传媒�
She said the foundation SA国际影视传媒渁pproached the alleged incident from June 2018 with deep concern,SA国际影视传媒� and supported Smiley by covering her legal fees and SA国际影视传媒渁rranging meetings with her, her counsellor, and supporting companions.SA国际影视传媒�
She said Smiley made the decision to not file a formal complaint leading to an independent investigation.
SA国际影视传媒淭he foundationSA国际影视传媒檚 policy on the prevention of harassment and violence, adopted in October 2018, and the services of the external ombudsperson were also made available to the scholar,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淗owever, despite these procedural options available to her, she chose not to file a formal complaint.
SA国际影视传媒淲e received the lawsuit yesterday afternoon. In this context, we will not make further comment.SA国际影视传媒�
Neither Smiley nor Kakfwi could be reached for further comment.
