Vancouver Olympic CEO Seeks to Dismiss Sexual-abuse Lawsuit

The Metro
January 29, 2015

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/1274650/furlong-seeks-to-dismiss-sexual-abuse-lawsuit/

Former Vancouver Olympic organizing committee president and CEO John Furlong, in Vancouver, B.C., on September 27, 2012.

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has reserved a decision on whether to throw out a sexual abuse lawsuit against former Vancouver Olympic CEO John Furlong.

Grace West filed legal action in 2013 alleging that Furlong sexually abused her while he was a teacher at Immaculata School in Burns Lake, B.C., in 1969 and 1970.

Furlong’s lawyer has applied to have West’s lawsuit dismissed, arguing that she attended a different school at the time that she alleged she was abused.

The application by Furlong’s lawyer claims that West’s name does not appear in student records for Immaculata and that records show she attended St. Joseph’s School in Smithers, B.C., during that time period.

Judge Miriam Gropper reserved her decision after a hearing on the application Thursday morning.

West is one of three who alleged sexual abuse by Furlong. Another woman dropped her lawsuit last month, while an unidentified man’s legal action has been undermined by court documents that suggest he attended a different school at the time of the alleged abuse.