City of Saint John ‘vicariously liable’ for police officer’s sexual abuse of children

In 2013, Saint John resident Robert Hayes filed a class-action lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted when he was a boy by police Sgt. Kenneth Estabrooks, who died in 2005.

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed a bid by the City of Saint John to overturn a ruling that found the city bears some responsibility for the sexual abuse of children by a member of the city’s police force.

As is its practice, the country’s highest court did not give reasons to justify its decision not to hear the case.

In 2013, Saint John resident Robert Hayes filed a class-action lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted when he was a boy by police Sgt. Kenneth Estabrooks, who died in 2005.

In his statement of claim, Hayes accused the City of Saint John, the municipal police force and the city’s police commission of failing to act to prevent the abuse in order to protect their reputations.

A key question was whether the city could be held vicariously liable, meaning it was responsible for the actions of someone under its authority.

In March 2023, New Brunswick’s Court of King’s Bench decided the city was not vicariously liable for harm caused by the police officer, but that decision was overturned by the province’s Court of Appeal in September 2023, and the city then filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Allegations against Estabrooks first surfaced in 1975 when he was a 22-year veteran of the Saint John Police Force, and he resigned that year when confronted with allegations from two teenage boys — but no charges were laid.

Hayes’ statement of claim says Estabrooks was transferred to a job with the city works department after the allegations surfaced and continued to sexually abuse minors.