Judge in sex harassment case to face inquiry

[lewisipso]

A public inquiry will be held to examine the conduct of a Manitoba judge connected to a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint.

Lori Douglas, an associate chief justice with the Court of Queen's Bench (Family Division), has been under review by a panel of five judges, ordered by the Canadian Judicial Council in January.

The CJC announced Wednesday that following the review, it has been determined the matter may be serious enough to warrant Douglas's removal from office.

The council said an independent lawyer will be selected to present all evidence in a fair manner and additional details about the inquiry will be released in the coming weeks.

This is the first inquiry to be called since changes were made to CJC bylaws and procedures in October 2010. The changes were made to streamline some of the key steps for reviewing complaints against federally appointed judges.

Douglas stepped away from her duties as a sitting judge in September 2010, after Winnipegger Alexander Chapman filed a complaint with the CJC in July.

He claimed Douglas's husband, Jack King, tried to pressure him to have sex with her in 2002 and 2003.

At the time, both King and Douglas were lawyers, partners at the firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman in Winnipeg.

Chapman first met King in 2002, when he retained the lawyer to handle his divorce. King showed him sexually explicit photos of Douglas, naked in various forms of bondage, in chains, with sex toys and performing oral sex.

Many of the photos had also been posted on a porn website devoted to interracial sex, particularly between black men and white women.

That information was admitted to by King, who has also apologized for his behaviour, particularly to his wife, who he said had done nothing other than privately indulge him in his strange tastes.

"My behaviour was disgraceful," he said at a law society hearing. "To my wife, I can never apologize enough."

King also admitted to arranging two meetings for drinks, which he attended along with Chapman and Douglas.

Soon after his divorce proceedings were completed, Chapman filed a complaint to the managing partners at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman. King then left the firm and reached an agreement with Chapman that included a confidentiality clause.

King later became a partner in a new firm he helped found.

After seven years of silence, Chapman decided to go pubic with his complaints and allegations at the end of August 2010, telling CBC News he still felt distraught about the matter.


Judge in sex harassment case to face inquiry - Manitoba - CBC News

[CTR man]

I figured porn might have something to do with it.