Military sexual misconduct class action claims soar to 13,500 as deadline nears

"We've seen a consistent increase throughout the fall," said one of the lawyers working with survivors on the Canadian military sexual misconduct class action lawsuit.

The number of claims in the military sexual misconduct class action lawsuit has nearly doubled over the last four months, soaring to more than 13,000 as the deadline for new claimants nears.

With three weeks left until the deadline, the number of claims now sits at 13,522 — an increase of 6,176 from the 7,346 claims that had been submitted as of July 14, 2021.

“We’ve seen a consistent increase throughout the fall, especially in October. I think likely most of it is driven by the fact that the claims period is coming to an end,” said Andrew Astritis, part of the legal team at Raven Law representing claimants in the suit.

He urged anyone who needs help filling out their claims to reach out, and said the most important thing for anyone considering making a claim is to get that in before the deadline on Nov. 24.

“If people can’t complete their narrative or if people can’t get all the documents that they need to get in order before then, we can help them with that,” he said.

“We have a team of lawyers here who are available to give people that assistance.”

The $900-million class action lawsuit was settled in 2019 and opened to claims from survivors and victims of military sexual misconduct on May 25, 2020. The class action provides claimants with financial compensation for the harms they experienced, allocated at specific amounts, as well as the option to participate in restorative engagement.

It had received 2,729 claims by late December 2020, which jumped to more than 7,000 by July.