Court approves sex-abuse settlement against Quebec clerics after lawyers lower fees

MONTREAL – Quebec’s Court of Appeal has approved a $28-million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed against the Clerics of Saint-Viateur of Canada by sexual-assault victims.

A deal was reached in January 2022, but last July Quebec Superior Court Justice Thomas M. Davis said the $8 million in legal fees was excessive.

The judge said that despite the fact the lawyers for the 375 sexual-assault victims did “remarkable work,” he wanted a new agreement with more reasonable fees.

In a ruling dated Monday, the province’s high court approved the new deal after lawyers reduced their fees to 20 per cent of the settlement money – about $5.6 million.

The lawyers also agreed to put nearly $100,000 into an assistance fund for class actions.

The 2017 lawsuit against the Clerics of Saint-Viateur involved sex crimes that had been committed since 1935 at more than 20 establishments run by the Quebec-based Catholic religious order.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.