The lawsuit claims the organization broke its contract by not protecting the plaintiff from “long-term intimidation, coercion, bullying, abuse, and harassment”
CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – A hockey player from Cambridge and his parents have launched a lawsuit against Hockey Canada seeking more than $2.5 million over bullying allegations.
The Ontario Hockey Federation and Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario are also listed as defendants. The family says their son faced bullying multiple times while playing for several teams under these groups.
No defence statement has been filed yet, and Hockey Canada told Cambridge Today they haven’t officially received the lawsuit at this point.
This same family previously brought a $5.5-million suit against Victus Academy, a private hockey school in Kitchener, Ont., also over bullying issues. That case is still active in court.
The plaintiffs want $1 million for breaches of fiduciary duties, breach of contract and negligence; $500,000 for intentional mental distress; an undisclosed sum for lost income and competitive edge; another $500,000 in punitive damages; plus $500,000 under the Family Law Act.
None of these claims have been proven in court yet.
The statement says that during the 2015-16 season playing in Cambridge, the player was bullied by his coach and teammates. Because of that, he was allowed to leave to join another team in a different city the next year.
In 2016-17, while with a new organization, he again faced bullying from teammates. A formal complaint was sent to the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario but no action followed according to their claim.
Then in 2017-18 playing in a different league, he says bullying continued among teammates. Complaints were made to the OHF but again nothing was done according to the lawsuit.
Bullying allegedly went on during 2018-19 too with formal complaints submitted to OHF once more.
In 2019-20 season play, the player says he was bullied again by teammates and another complaint filed with OHF reportedly got no response. Complaints were also lodged against five players in October 2019.
The following month saw meetings between the family and an investigator from Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario who started looking into it.
A second investigator took over mid-2020 and gave a formal report back to Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario which told plaintiffs some recommendations were made including suspending those five players – but that decision was later reversed they say.
This past April, Hockey Canada hired an independent third-party investigator whose work isn’t finished yet according to the claim.
The alleged abusive actions include attempts “to tarnish the plaintiff’s reputation through making false allegations, accusations and rumours.”
The family argues that failing to protect their son “constitutes breaches of their duties of care and fiduciary duties towards him” along with letting “long-term intimidation, coercion, bullying, abuse, and harassment” happen unchecked.
The hockey player claims he suffered various injuries like “emotional and psychological harm; impairment of mental and emotional health and well-being; an impaired ability to trust other persons; depression, anxiety, emotional distress and mental anguish; a loss of self-esteem and feelings of humiliation and degradation; a requirement for medical or psychological treatment and counselling; loss of friendships, and the loss of enjoyment of life.”
The lawyer representing them declined requests for public comment on record.
– This first appeared in Village Media’s Cambridge Today
