Saskatchewan’s highest court has overturned the dismissal of a proposed class action lawsuit alleging abuse at a private Christian school in Saskatoon. In an update released by the plaintiffs in the case, the group revealed Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal overturned a Court of King’s Bench decision which stayed the proposed lawsuit against Mile Two Church Inc and the Legacy Christian Academy. A Saskatoon judge dismissed the $25 million lawsuit last June on account of an “abuse of process,” ruling the plaintiffs failed to “immediately” disclose that a settlement agreement had been reached with the three originally named defendants to the rest of the group. The former students appealed the Court of King’s Bench decision. As a result of the appeal, the litigation will now move through the courts. Grant Scharfstein, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement the lawsuit’s members are “very pleased” with the decision. In its written decision, the Court of Appeal’s three judge panel found there was no evidence that the process had been compromised or that the plaintiffs were planning to subvert the integrity of the legal process. “For these reasons, an abuse of process did not occur. Accordingly, the plaintiff’s appeal must be allowed, and they should be permitted to proceed with their action,” the decision read. When the lawsuit was launched in 2022, it named 22 defendants and alleged systemic abuse of students at the church and school – formerly known as Legacy Christian Academy. With files from Stacey Hein
