‘He is a monster’: Former students sue CBE for failing to investigate abusive teacher
Posted Nov 29, 2021 3:56 pm.
Last Updated Nov 30, 2021 6:20 am.
WARNING: The content in this article may be distressing to some readers.
A class-action lawsuit is seeking damages amounting to $40 million from the Calgary Board of Education, as a group of former students say the board failed to act against an abusive teacher over 20 years ago.
Earlier this year, Michael Gregory was charged with 17 offences relating to sexual misconduct but in February he committed suicide.
Students are now launching the lawsuit in the hope they can find justice.
Gregory was a teacher at John Ware Junior High and the lawsuit covers allegations going back to the late 1980s and up to the early 2000s, with three students coming forward to publicly state what they say happened.
The suit includes graphic details of sexual assault and harassment, something that was also an open secret in the school.
“No person, male or female, deserves to be subjected to this type of treatment. It is the goal of our clients that this does not happen to any other student in Calgary or throughout Canada. No person deserves to be subjected to this type of treatment,” said Jonathan Denis, a lawyer with Guardian Law Group who is representing the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit alleges Gregory, who was a grade 7 to 9 teacher at the school, would groom female students, engaged in sexual relations with them, took students to his home, and subjected them to inappropriate behaviour in classes or on field trips.
One plaintiff, Kelly Schneider, said she was groomed by Gregory starting in 1989 when she was 14 years old. While she was in grades 8 and 9, she said they developed a sexual relationship and would also engage in “strange tactics to build intimacy.”
A couple of incidents detailed in the lawsuit indicated that Gregory sexualized Schneider in the classroom, and in one case he and another teacher threw her in the teachers’ shower with her clothes on following a volleyball game.
Schneider said she told other people about what was happening but nothing was done. She says she was manipulated to discourage her from speaking out further.
“This man is a pedophile and he is a monster. And never, ever should have been able to continue to do what he doing for as long as he was doing it,” she said, with tears welling up.
Schneider broke down in tears, and fellow plaintiff Cody Bonkowsky hugged her. He said while he was not directly abused by Gregory, he saw what was going on and was also ignored when trying to bring the concerns forward.
The lawsuit states how Bonkowsky witnessed inappropriate and explicit conversations Gregory was having with other classmates, and reported it to a guidance counsellor.
While he was assured by the counsellor that action would be taken, he never heard anything about the matter again.
Bonkowsky said this caused long-term issues in his life, leading to anxiety and depression.
“It’s time for change. It’s time for accountability. And it’s time for justice to be served for these women.”
Bonkowsky’s close friend in school, Eryn MacKenzie, was also allegedly abused by Gregory when they were in the school between 1999 and 2001.
“I was manipulated into silence.”
Eryn MacKenzie says because of Gregory, she lost her ability to connect with and trust people. And as hard as it is to talk about trauma that was locked away, it’s liberating to speak up. @citynewscalgary pic.twitter.com/PxG3jwX1JK
— Stefanie Lasuik (@StefanieLasuik) November 29, 2021
MacKenzie said Gregory would target her during field trips, and encouraged her and other female classmates to expose themselves while on a canoe.
She said that on overnight trips, Gregory would spend the night in the tent of a 15-year-old classmate. She said other teachers on the trips seemed to be aware of what Gregory was doing, and would be protective of female students but still did not take any action to stop what was happening.
Over the course of the following year, MacKenzie said she was also coerced into a sexual relationship with Gregory. She says he was also grooming one of her younger friends at the same time.
What happened left MacKenzie with long-lasting effects and she attempted suicide in high school after trying to come forward about it.
“I’m 34 now and it has affected every single relationship I’ve had in my life,” she said. “Whether that’s with my family, who I felt I had to keep this from. Whether that’s with my friends who I was isolated and ostracized from.”
The group said none of this was a secret in the school, and it was painfully obvious that other members of the school’s faculty were aware of Gregory’s actions.
“It was so obvious,” said Schneider. “He didn’t hide it. He ruled that school.”
“It’s insane,” added MacKenzie. “It’s mind-boggling to me that it was this grand of a scale and that … nobody did anything.”
Due to the fact the alleged abuse was so gratuitous and took place over such a long time, there’s strong belief there are a number of other potential victims who have not come forward in addition to the three named plaintiffs and other students who are not named in the lawsuit.
The CBE is targeted in the lawsuit because the school offered greater opportunity for Gregory to abuse his power, and there were many problems with allowing him to go on trips and spend significant time alone with students.
The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of the board, due to failing to supervise and discipline Gregory.
Eventually, Gregory was formally investigated by the Alberta Teacher’s Association and his license was suspended in 2006, but the lawsuit says the CBE should have reported allegations sooner and the actions of the board effectively discouraged victims from coming forward.
“The Calgary Board of Education knew or ought to have known that this was going on. But more importantly, did not have an adequate process or protocol in place — a policy — to investigate these claims,” Denis said. “This should have, at the very least, been investigated. And by the time Mr. Gregory was stripped of his teaching license in 2006, it was too late.”
None of the allegations against Gregory have been proven in court yet.
When asked about the lawsuit, the CBE told CityNews they had not been formally served yet.
