Former N.S. sailing team member alleges sex assault, failure to act by governing bodies

A former member of Nova Scotia’s Olympic sailing training program has launched a lawsuit against two of the sport’s governing bodies and a provincial yacht club, alleging they failed to act when she reported being sexually assaulted last year.

According to a statement of claim filed in the Ontario Court of Justice on Tuesday, the woman identified as A.B. reported on July 26, 2024 to a member of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron that she had been sexually assaulted. None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court.

She alleged the assault occurred on July 16, 2024, by a fellow competitive sailor in the Nova Scotia provincial skiff squad, who was also a co-coach of the Yacht Squadron. She was 21 at the time.

The complainant worked as a sailing instructor with the Yacht Squadron, in addition to training with the Nova Scotia Olympic skiff sailing team.

Sail Canada, Sail Nova Scotia Association, the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron as well as some of their employees were named as defendants.

As of Wednesday afternoon, none of the defendants have filed a defence.

According to lawyer Mike Smitiuch, his client is hoping the lawsuit will “put institutions on notice” they must start treating sexual assault complaints far more seriously.

“For this young lady, a little bit too late for her unfortunately,” Smitiuch said in an interview with Global News. “I mean, for the future let’s hope that this doesn’t happen to others and that they look deep inside and they make changes that will help others.”

A.B. says after reporting the incident, she was removed from the skiff squad’s WhatsApp group chat, and was allegedly blocked by multiple teammates on social media.

She alleges she was “effectively isolated” from club communications and training activities.

A month after making the accusation, the complainant alleges she was harassed by a friend of the accused who asked her to provide details of the alleged assault in front of co-workers.

She says this led to her resignation due to work safety and well-being concerns.

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“I faced some pretty severe backlash and I faced a complete shutout from the high performance sailing that I originally had access to and that I moved across the country to gain access to,” A.B. told The Alex Pierson Show on Global News Radio.

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The lawsuit goes on to claim that none of the defendants or governing bodies reported the alleged assault to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, which administers a code of conduct for sports organizations receiving federal funding.

The office ceased operations earlier this year and the code is now administered by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

The complainant also alleged the coaches and employees of the Nova Scotia sailing organizations “executed a coordinated plan not to report” the sexual assault allegation.

It is also alleged that two members named as defendants under Sail Nova Scotia Association have since been promoted to positions of increased authority at sailing clubs in other provinces.

In a statement, Sail Nova Scotia said it has engaged legal counsel and will review the allegations and respond as part of the process.

“We appreciate that this has been and remains a challenging time for the complainant and hope that she has been receiving the necessary support,” Sarah Flanagan, president of Sail Nova Scotia’s board, and Frank Denis, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.

They added the association believes everyone in the sport has the right to participate in a safe and inclusive manner and is committed to maintaining an environment free from abuse, discrimination and harassment.

The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron general manager, George Kapetanakis, said safety, respect, and well-being of all members remains its highest priority.

“We continue to strengthen our programs, policies, and culture to ensure that sailing takes place in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment,” Kapetanakis wrote in a statement to Global News. “As this matter is before the courts, we will not be commenting further.”

A.B. also accuses Sail Canada of failing to investigate.

Global News reached out to Sail Canada about the claims.

Sail Canada’s chair of the board of directors, Kate MacLennan, says it will fully cooperate with the legal process, but cannot comment further.

“Our immediate thoughts are with the plaintiff and her well-being,” MacLennan wrote.

MacLennan went on to say Sail Canada has worked closely with Safe Sport partners since becoming aware of the situation last year. This included “immediate and proactive” communications with the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner to “ensure our continued compliance” with the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport.

A.B. told Alex Pierson that the statement from Sail Canada is “hard to hear.”

“It’s kind of hard to hear a statement like that, saying that they did everything they can when I asked them multiple times to put in protective measures for me and to take action to protect other youth and failing,” she said.

According to the suit, A.B. suffered “severe mental harm and injury” due to failure to take the allegations seriously and attempted suicide on July 28, 2024. It adds she made a second attempt on Oct. 18, 2024 that was prevented by her mother.

“She turned to the people that she thought would help her and when they turned their backs on her and, in fact, punished her, that was too much to take,” Smitiuch said.

A.B. is suing for approximately $9 million in damages from the defendants.

She is asking the case to be tried in Kingston, Ont., where Sail Canada’s headquarters are located.

Asked why she is not bringing forward criminal charges, A.B. said she wants to “bring justice” to the institutions that fail to protect women.

“I can’t catch every bad man, I can’t can every man who’s going to assault women, what I can do is bring justice to the institutions that will fail those women and fail to protect them,” A.B. said.

“I was failed by my sport organization, I was failed by my coaches, I was failed by the people who have those jobs and are in those positions of power in order to protect young athletes.”

—with files from Global News’ Heidi Petracek and The Canadian Press