Nunavut court approves $8M class-action settlement in case of sex abuse by teacher

Law360 Canada (May 5, 2025, 3:04 PM EDT) -- The Nunavut Court of Justice has approved a class-action settlement of $8 million on behalf of individuals who were subjected to sexual abuse by a teacher while attending Nunavut schools. 

The class involved those who were students in Resolute Bay or Clyde River between April 1, 1969, and July 30, 1981, and who were sexually abused by Maurice Cloughley, who was convicted of sex offences. 

Cloughley pleaded guilty in 1996 to assaulting nine of his former students and was then sentenced to 10 years in jail for committing sex offences when he was working both as a teacher and school principal.

The settlement will be paid by Nunavut for compensation to class members. The settlement was recently approved by the court after the hearing took place June 2024.

The funds will be divided between the class members on the basis of their injuries, up to a possible maximum of $200,000 for any individual class member’s claim, according to a May 5 statement by class counsel firms Cooper Regel and Morris Moore.

The representative plaintiffs had alleged that the territory was responsible for sexual abuse of students in the institutions by Cloughley. Territory of Nunavut and the Commissioner of the Territory of the Northwest Territories were named as defendants in the action for alleged negligence, vicarious liability and breach of fiduciary duty.

The sexual abuses could include:

•  “Having been sexually assaulted by Cloughley;
•  Having been forced to touch Cloughley in a sexual manner;
•  Having been forced to touch other children in a sexual manner;
•  Having been forced to have their picture taken while nude; or
•  Some combination of these forms of sexual exploitation.”
  
  

The amount includes class counsel legal fees of $2 million plus tax and disbursements of over $95,000, with each of the representative plaintiffs receiving $15,000 in honorarium.

Claims can also be submitted on behalf of an estate as several class members have passed away since the action was brought. According to the settlement, class members had been waiting since 2008 for a resolution to the action.

Class members will need to complete and submit a claim form to the claims administrator, RicePoint, on or before Nov. 1, 2025.

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