B.C. government admits liability in alleged fraud by social worker
Kelowna social worker accused of stealing from vulnerable teens
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Ministry of Children and Families has admitted liability in its response to allegations a Kelowna social worker stole from vulnerable teens.
The government filed the response Thursday to a lawsuit launched by the public guardian and trustee alleging Robert Riley Saunders defrauded dozens of youth, mainly Indigenous, out of government support money.
In the response, the ministry admits vicarious liability and agrees that general damages and court-ordered interest for the plaintiffs are appropriate.
Last month, the government said Saunders was no longer employed with the B.C. public service.
The ministry said it has taken several steps because of the allegations to protect youth, including new financial controls aimed at ensuring money is not misappropriated.
An independent review of the ministry’s financial controls, completed earlier this year, recommended a system change to prevent staff from being able to both order and print cheques without the involvement of a second staff member.
The ministry said in a statement Thursday that since the allegations came to light it has offered supports and services, including counselling to the children and youth who were affected by the social worker’s actions.
The ministry said it will work with the youths’ lawyers to “address these matters in a manner that does not cause further trauma to the affected individuals.”
In the class-action suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Nov. 6, the public guardian and trustee alleged Saunders manipulated the teenagers into an “independent living” program, but then kept the money, leaving them vulnerable to becoming homeless.
The ministry, the director of child welfare, and the Kamloops financial institution where the money was deposited are named in the lawsuit.
The director of child welfare was accused of not adequately supervising Saunders and failing to have protections in place to restrain, control, detect and prevent his misappropriation of funds and benefits.
The lawsuit claims the ministry team did not hold the weekly and monthly consultations with Saunders as required by policy, failing to ascertain whether the children assigned to him received adequate care.
Vancouver lawyer Jason Gratl, acting for the public guardian, told Postmedia they had identified about 24 youths who were victimized by Saunders, but there may be as many as 90, mostly Indigenous young people. He estimated sums of between $30,000 and $40,000 were involved in each case.
The lawsuit said the lead plaintiff, identified only as R.O., was ”vulnerable to abuse” and was moved from a stable home environment into an unstable living arrangement in order to make him eligible for government financial benefits.
Saunders allegedly opened a joint bank account with R.O. at Interior Savings Financial Services Ltd. and stole the money deposited by the ministry by moving it into his own account. The suit claims Interior Savings was negligent and in breach of contract for failing to implement adequate safeguards to ensure Saunders could not unlawfully convert the plaintiff’s funds.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.