WELLINGTON COUNTY – The Upper Grand District School Board has been named in two separate but related $5-million lawsuits surrounding allegations of abuse by a former school principal.
None of the allegations or claims have been tested in court.
The first lawsuit, filed with the Superior Court of Justice in Guelph last summer, claims former principal Lorne Brown sexually abused now 77-year-old plaintiff George Belrose around 1960-61, when Belrose was a 13-year-old student at Erin Public School.
A second lawsuit against the board, also seeking $5 million in damages, was filed in Guelph in May. It alleges Brown sexually abused now 59-year-old plaintiff Richard Looser around 1978, when Looser was a 12-year-old student at Ospringe Public School.
Allegations and claims made in the two lawsuits are nearly identical.
Brown allegedly used his position at the different schools to “exert influence and control” over the students, preying upon and sexually abusing them.
With a position of authority, Brown allegedly engaged in “deviant” behaviour “for years without risk of getting caught.”
The lawsuits each claim the board was negligent, owed a duty of care and breached its duty.
Damages are “directly caused by the acts, actions, inaction and/or behaviours” of the board, the lawsuits say.
It’s also alleged the board was in denial, or wilfully blind to what was going on, and would have known what Brown was doing.
Each plaintiff claims they struggle with physical, mental, psychological and emotional effects stemming from the events.
In an April statement of defence filed by Fosters Law and responding to the lawsuit from Belrose, the board denies “each and every allegation.”
The board says it didn’t know about the alleged incidents and it wasn’t negligent.
The board’s conduct doesn’t entitle Belrose to damages, the statement says, adding “injuries, losses and damages alleged are excessive and too remote” and that Belrose “failed to mitigate his damages.”
The board wants the lawsuit dismissed, but suggested it be tried in St. Thomas rather than Guelph, should it proceed.
A statement of defence has not been filed in response to the second lawsuit as of Aug. 8.
Toronto-based Preszler Injury Lawyers, which did not respond to requests for comment from the Advertiser, is representing both plaintiffs.
The school board and Fosters Law did not respond to requests for comment.
The Upper Grand District School Board did not exist at the time of the alleged offences. It was officially formed in 1998, following the amalgamation of the Dufferin and Wellington boards of education.
The Erin and Ospringe schools have long since closed, the former demolished in 2023.
According to a Nov. 1980 article in the now defunct Acton Free Press, Brown retired in December that year after 31 years working as a teacher and principal.
Brown lived in Centre Wellington and started working in Wellington in 1956, according to the article.
He was a principal in Erin and spent a decade at the Ospringe school, the newspaper reported.
