City won’t appeal decision in intimate images case

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This article was published 26/07/2022 (1552 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon will not appeal the decision in a lawsuit that found the city liable after a woman’s intimate images were shared during a Brandon Police Service hiring competition.

Brittany Roque sued Terry Lynn Peters for sharing Roque’s intimate images without her consent. The trial was heard virtually in mid-February 2021, and the City of Brandon is listed as a third party in the lawsuit.

In March, Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sandra Zinchuk found both Peters and the city jointly and severally liable for general damages of $45,000 and Peters liable for aggravated damages of $15,000.

“Criminal investigations, when brought to the courts, must meet a standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt,’” a Tuesday statement from the City of Brandon reads. The statement was signed by city treasurer and acting city manager Dean Hammond and Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen.

“While the City and BPS respect the court’s decision, we remain satisfied that Deputy Chief Randy Lewis acted in good faith and in belief as to best interests of BPS and the residents of Brandon. Deputy Chief Lewis is a highly respected, ethical, and virtuous leader of BPS and a valued member of the community.

“The City of Brandon and BPS did not pursue an appeal on the matter.”

In her March 2022 decision, Zinchuk wrote Lewis viewed the image without Roque’s consent during the hiring competition. She said people have the right to control who sees intimate images of their body.

“I find that this substantially, and unreasonably violated her privacy,” Zinchuk wrote in the decision, adding Lewis receiving and using the images was “not in the public interest.”

The statement was issued Tuesday afternoon, a day after the Sun requested an update on the review of the decision by the city’s legal representative.

The Independent Investigations Unit of Manitoba also probed the case and concluded no charges would be laid against Lewis.

At the time of the events, Manitoba’s Intimate Images Protection Act was an “emerging piece of legislation that was being newly navigated by many employers and organizations,” the Tuesday statement reads.

“In the years since this matter transpired, we have learned a great deal and made modifications to our hiring processes and policies to bring them in line with the noted legislation.”

In a followup email, a city spokesperson said the police hiring background investigation and waiver form have been modified to align with the legislation. Intimate images will not be received or viewed during background investigations “unless criminality is suspected.”

The Tuesday release will be the “final statement” from the city and BPS on the case.

Kevin Toyne, Roque’s lawyer in the case, said he was unavailable for comment when reached via email.

According to an agreed statement of fact in the case, the plaintiff, Roque, took and sent intimate photos of herself to Brandon police officer Ryan Friesen during a three-month affair with him in 2015.

Friesen forwarded the images from his cellphone to his email account before deleting them from his phone. He did this so his then-partner, Peters — the defendant — wouldn’t find them.

In May 2016, Roque applied to become a police officer with the Brandon Police Service. She was shortlisted for an upcoming position the following August, which she said excited her.

In January 2017, Friesen deleted the intimate images from his email account, but they were still accessible in the “trash” folder. He also told Peters his email password, so she was able to search the account for evidence of infidelity.

On Feb. 19, 2017, Peters found the nude images of the plaintiff in the trash folder, along with photos of other women. She was upset, so she sent copies of the images to her own email and confronted her partner.

A few days later, Peters distributed the intimate images of Roque to Brandon police senior executive, while Roque was still in the middle of the hiring competition to become a police officer.

In March 2017, Roque underwent a polygraph test as part of the hiring process, where she disclosed her past relationship with Friesen.

At the end of the meeting, she was told she could either withdraw from the hiring process, or else she would be removed by the Brandon Police Service, according to the agreed statement of fact.

Roque declined to withdraw from the competition and subsequently filed complaints with the IIU and the RCMP.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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