2 school boards sued for millions over alleged abuse by teacher

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse

At 16, Rita hadn't really dated anyone, but a man almost twice her age convinced the teenager he would be her first boyfriend.

That man was her teacher. 

"He took me to a romantic dinner in a French restaurant in Toronto, and we went back to his house and ended up in his bed," said Rita, who has asked CBC to use only her first name.

"He made me believe this was going to go somewhere."

Rita continues to deal with the pain and guilt of what she says was grooming and sexual assault when she attended Markham District High School in the Greater Toronto Area between 1979 and 1981.

• One woman's search for justice uncovers 15 more survivors 
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Decades later, she discovered the teacher did the exact same thing to her friend, Jeanie McKay. They now know there were other girls.

Both women are suing the York Region District School Board, each alleging the board was negligent and vicariously liable for the sexual abuse perpetrated by William Douglas Walker. 

It's not the first time a school board finds itself in such a position, with this same teacher. Collectively, the compensation demands over Walker's alleged actions have surpassed $10 million.

Legal experts say increasingly, victims of historical sexual abuse are turning to civil litigation when they can't find justice through the police or criminal courts, or lack faith in those institutions. 

It's one of several findings from a CBC podcast investigation that found 15 women who claimed they were sexually harassed, exploited or assaulted by Walker at three different school districts in and around Toronto. 

The investigation reveals that starting in 1975 and continuing until 2000, several school authorities were told about the teacher's sexual behaviour with kids, but he continued to teach, moving to seven different schools over the years. 

For his part, the teacher has maintained his sexual encounters with his former students were consensual. He has never been convicted of a crime.

Alternative to law enforcement

In their claims, both Rita, 60, and McKay, 59, state they continue to suffer serious effects from their experiences in high school including depression, anxiety and an inability to trust others. They say their pain has manifested as panic attacks and nightmares into midlife. 

"I didn't choose to go the civil route first…. The police didn't do a full investigation," said McKay who went to police in 1998, but no charges were laid and Walker remained in the classroom. "I knew I had to do something." 

In 2001, the Ontario College of Teachers found Walker guilty of professional misconduct for sexually abusing McKay in high school. No other victims of sexual abuse were mentioned at that time. 

In its statements of defence, both filed in February 2022, the York Region District School Board said no one raised concerns about Walker when he was in the board's employment, and said it is not vicariously liable for the teacher's alleged conduct involving these former students. 

Anne-Marie Robinson, who says Walker raped her on a school band trip in 1977, sued the Toronto District School Board in 2018. 

That board denied Walker abused Robinson in any way and said it was not vicariously liable for his alleged conduct or abuse. The teacher did not fight the allegations.

Settled out of court

"They noted him in default," said Robinson's then lawyer, Elizabeth Grace. "And he is deemed to admit the allegations against him, that he did commit sexual assault." 

Robinson and the board eventually settled out of court in 2020. The terms of that settlement are not public. The 62-year-old said suing the board was her way of finding justice after getting nowhere through the criminal courts. 

"If institutions, like people, can get away with things, they will never change," said Robinson. 

Neither school board responded to CBC's requests for comment, and despite inquiries through Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, none of the boards Walker worked for had any files to share.

Grace, a partner at Lerners LLP in Toronto, won a precedent-setting case against a different Ontario school board in 2020. A judge found the board was vicariously liable for the abuse perpetrated by a different music teacher against his student in Lindsay, Ont., in the 1980s. 

Grace said since that ruling, the number of civil actions against school boards in sexual abuse cases has increased. In the past year, Grace said she's worked on 23 cases against school boards and authorities.

"They're the ones who have the ability to make systemic changes," she said of the boards. "Which is what most survivors want most of all."

'Fighting for my justice'

McKay, who initially went to police 25 years ago and launched the civil suit two years ago, hopes mediation with the school board will finally go ahead in the fall of 2023.

In a letter to CBC, Walker has apologized for what he calls "inexcusable behaviour" with the teen girls. 

For McKay, it's not enough. 

"It doesn't give us our virginity back. It doesn't give us back the nights that we were awake with anguish or shame," she said. 

After 40 years, Rita remains hopeful the civil suit will finally bring her some clarity. 

"I've spent enough time thinking about him," she said. "I want peace."

Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.