City of Leduc Just Dropped $9.5M on 155 Women?! 🤯 No Cap

The Deets

Alright, so here's the sitch. Back in 2022, two ex-firefighters from Leduc, Christa Steele and Mindy Smith, were like, "Nah, we ain't standing for this," and filed a lawsuit against the City of Leduc. Turns out, a bunch of women who worked there between 2002 and 2023 were dealing with sexual assault, harassment, and straight-up discrimination. Total 🚩🚩🚩.

Fast forward to 2023, and the court was like, "Yeah, this is legit." They approved a settlement where the City of Leduc had to cough up over $9.5 million to 155 women. That’s between $10,000 and $265,000 each, depending on what they went through. Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer, a Calgary law firm, repped the women.

The lawyers are saying this is a major W for holding people accountable, and one of the highest payouts in Canadian history for workplace sexual misconduct, period. Like, this sets a whole new standard, fr fr.

Then, in January 2024, the Mayor of Leduc was like, "My bad," and apologized. The city's now saying they're gonna do better with "critical change initiatives," including training and workplace improvements. They're also claiming the insurance company is footing the bill so property taxes won't skyrocket. But still, damage is already done.

Christa Steele, one of the OGs who started the whole thing, said she's grateful for the outcome and that it's all about truth and validation for those who were affected. Facts! The claims process is done now, but the impact is gonna be felt for a while.

The city low-key tried to keep the payout numbers hush-hush, but the court was like, "Nah, the people deserve to know." Transparency for the win!