The unidentified woman also Brampton is seeking more than $2 million in damages for an alleged sexual assault that she said occurred while Brampton Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon was travelling on official city business. It is not known whether the woman was accompanying Dhillon or had traveled there independently of the city. Much of the alleged 45-minute attack was documented in an audio recording — a transcript of which was included in the integrity commissioner’s report — in which the woman can be heard saying “no” to Dhillon 74 times over the course of 2 minutes and 57 seconds. Dhillon has filed a judicial review claim of the ethics report, claiming that “both the investigation process and the final report itself are deeply flawed.”

BRAMPTON – A business trip to Turkey on behalf of the city has cost Brampton Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon not only his reputation so far but now a $2 million plus lawsuit has been brought against Dhillon and the city by the woman who alleges that she was sexually harassed during the trip.

The unidentified woman also Brampton is seeking more than $2 million in damages for an alleged sexual assault that she said occurred while Dhillon was travelling on official city business. It is not known whether the woman was accompanying Dhillon or had traveled there independently of the city.

Earlier this month, Brampton councillors voted to suspend Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon from his duties and dock him 90 days of pay, the harshest penalty available to them under the Municipal Act, after an exhaustive integrity commissioner investigation determined he had sexually harassed the woman in Turkey while the two were on a trade mission, reported Toronto Star newspaper.

The ethics report found Dhillon engaged in the “unnecessary, unwelcome, and unwanted sexual touching” of the woman in her hotel room while on an official trip with the Canadian Turkish Business Council in November 2019.

The commissioner’s report is not a finding of criminal wrongdoing or guilt, and the complainant’s allegations, which include sexual assault, have not been tested in court.

In her report, the integrity commissioner said Dhillon refused to participate in the investigation, citing “procedural irregularities.”

Dhillon has filed a judicial review claim of the ethics report, claiming that “both the investigation process and the final report itself are deeply flawed.”

The complainant, identified only as Jane Doe, is seeking more than $2 million in damages from the city of Brampton and Dhillon for among other things: sexual assault and battery, engaging in a campaign of “lies and smears” and for obstructing the city’s ethics investigation.

 “Dhillon exploited his position of trust and power as a city councillor, and as the appointed head of a trade mission, to manipulate the situation to get himself alone with the plaintiff; and thereafter use his size and physical strength to overpower, forcibly confine and sexually brutalize the plaintiff over the space of nearly a full hour — all the while ignoring the plaintiff’s near one hundred terrified pleas to stop,” the claim states.

In an email statement, Dhillon said he denied all the allegations in the woman’s statement of claim.

“I continue to adamantly deny these allegations in their entirety. I intend to vigorously defend against this lawsuit, and I am confident that this matter will be dealt with fairly through our court process. My lawyers have advised me not to say anything further at this time, as this matter is before the courts,” wrote Dhillon through his lawyer Nader Hassan, with Stockwoods.

Much of the alleged 45-minute attack was documented in an audio recording — a transcript of which was included in the integrity commissioner’s report — in which the woman can be heard saying “no” to Dhillon 74 times over the course of 2 minutes and 57 seconds.

Initially, according to the claim, when confronted with the allegations, Dhillon claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

He later refused to participate in the integrity commissioner’s investigation, and “actively obstructed it,” the claim alleges.

In a press release sent by the woman’s lawyers, Michael Moon and Nadia Klein, they say they hope this suit will force Dhillon’s “evasive antics to come to an end.”

A spokesperson for Peel police said the victim reported her assault in November 2019.

 “Peel Regional Police take all allegations of sexual assault seriously and took the necessary steps to assist with the investigation,” said Cst. Heather Cannon, with media relations.

“Our investigators did consult with the Crown’s office and confirmed that Peel Regional Police do not have jurisdiction to lay charges. Our investigators made every effort to assist the RCMP and Turkish police by forwarding all the information we had to the Turkish police,” said Cannon.

Courtesy Toronto Star