The lawsuit was filed last year by former students of FACE, Victoria School and Lachine High School who allege they were sexually abused.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) and a former Montreal school principal over allegations by former students of sexual assault.
“We’re very happy,” said Pierre Boivin, of Kugler Kandestin, one of the lawyers behind the lawsuit. “All the victims will now be able to take for granted that this is a serious case that is worth bringing to trial. All victims or people with information can communicate with us in total confidence and confidentiality.
“We can now move forward with this very important file of someone who, despite appearances and despite all the prestige he had according to the functions entrusted in him, assaulted with impunity probably hundreds of innocent victims, children, over decades.”
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, who goes by the initial ‘C,’ describes in the original court filing being sexually abused by Baugniet when he was in Grade 2 on a weekend FACE school trip to the latter’s farm with approximately 40 other students, during the 1988-89 school year.”
The allegations included in the class action lawsuit have not been proved in a court of law.
Baugniet, who co-founded FACE school, is also facing multiple criminal charges in Ontario and Quebec concerning sexual offences against former students.
The identities of the alleged victims in the class-action lawsuit and the criminal cases are protected by a publication ban.
Michael Cohen, a spokesperson for the EMSB, said he could not comment on the class-action lawsuit application being authorized as the case is before the courts.
“It’s important to note (these allegations) occurred prior to the establishment of the EMSB, at another school board,” Cohen said, referring to the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal, which was folded into the EMSB in 1998. “We’re the fiduciary.
“Needless to say, we become responsible as the fiduciary. … We have to respect the judicial process.”
Baugniet, 81, currently resides in Victoria, B.C. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.