CANADA
Vancouver Sun
By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun December 30, 2014
The lawyer representing three people accusing Vancouver Olympics boss John Furlong of abuse while he was a teacher in the late 1960s has withdrawn from all three B.C. Supreme Court civil cases.
The news comes after one woman withdrew her complaint and court documents show that one of Furlong’s accusers may have been attending a different school during the years he accuses Furlong of abuse.
Three people — Beverly Mary Abraham (who recently withdrew her lawsuit), Grace Jessie West and an unidentified man — initially filed civil lawsuits in B.C. Supreme Court accusing former Vancouver Olympics CEO Furlong of physical and sexual abuse. Vancouver lawyer Jason Gratl was the lawyer for each.
The allegations surfaced after the Georgia Straight published an article written by Laura Robinson suggesting Furlong physically and verbally abused First Nations students while teaching at Immaculata Catholic elementary school in Burns Lake in 1969-1970.
Documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court show the unidentified man claimed he attended a different school, Lejac residential school in Fraser Lake, between “about 1966” and “about 1975,” moving to Metlakatla, or Prince George College, in “about 1978.”
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