Rights board
vindicates gay N.S. teacher
Ruling says she was
falsely targeted with allegations
of molesting a
student
JANE ARMSTRONG,
globeandmail.com from the Web, May 14, 2006
HALIFAX, N.S. May 12 -- A
Halifax high-school teacher, whose career unravelled after she was accused of
sexually molesting a teenage student, has been vindicated by a human-rights
board, which has ruled she was falsely targeted because she is gay.
In a strongly worded, 40-page ruling, Walter Thompson, chairman of the Nova
Scotia Human Rights Commission, ordered the Halifax Regional School Board to pay
$27,375 in damages to physical education teacher Lindsay Willow.
Ms. Willow said she was "numb" when she learned she had won her case, but later
moved by the words of Mr. Thompson in his judgment, adding that they
encapsulated "everything that I was trying to say."
Ms. Willow, 32, said her once-promising career came to a halt in the fall of
2000, when she was spotted by a fellow teacher leaving a washroom with a female
student. Ms. Willow maintained the two were washing their hands after
moving heavy equipment.
But her colleague, John Orlando, suspected Ms. Willow was abusing the Grade 12
student. Mr. Orlando reported the scene to a colleague and eventually the
principal, who called police.
Mr. Thompson agreed with Ms. Willow's assertion that her colleagues suspected
abuse because she is gay. "The circumstances were not suspicious.
They were innocent," he wrote.
In his decision, Mr. Thompson had harsh words for Mr. Orlando, school principal
Gordon Young and the Halifax Regional School Board for allowing tensions to
fester.
"The construction of [events] as indicative of a sexual assault demonstrates, in
my view, an element of discrimination played a role in Orlando's motivation for
making an allegation against Willow."
"I cannot fathom [Mr. Orlando's] thinking," Mr. Thompson said. "I am
driven reluctantly to the conclusion that prejudice was at least a factor in his
decision ..."
Mr. Thompson said Mr. Young should not have called in police without first
interviewing the student. Afterward, when police found no evidence of
sexual abuse, the principal should have apologized.
Instead, Ms. Willow said her career faltered because of the unfounded
allegations. She said she was stripped of her extracurricular duties and
her classes were monitored by Mr. Young.
The Halifax Regional School Board said it will issue a written apology to Ms.
Willow. Superintendent Carole Olsen said she called Ms. Willow yesterday
and plans to meet with her.
"I apologize unreservedly to Ms. Willow," Ms. Olsen said. "I accept that
she has suffered as a result of being wrongly accused of an impropriety with a
student." She said she expects Mr. Young to keep his position with the
board.
Ms. Willow said yesterday her legal and counselling bills totalled about
$90,000. She believes the school board should pay the balance of those
bills. She said the stress of the allegations affected her personal life;
she became reclusive, lost weight and suffered depression.
Mr. Orlando retired in 2005. Mr. Young has an administrative position with
the school board. Ms. Willow said she thinks Mr. Young should be removed.
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