Stephen Greensides rubs a small, smooth stone between the palms of his hands.
It seems to bring him comfort, as does his two-year-old dog Belle, who sits beside Greensides as he talks about the job he says changed his life forever.
“I don’t feel any self-worth or value. I feel like I’m a burden on my family. I feel like a total failure,” said the 49-year-old from Rockland, Ont.
For four years, Greensides worked in Scouts Canada’s safe scouting department, handling safety complaints from the organization’s 42,000 youth members and 13,000 volunteers across the country.
He alleges the traumatic nature of many of those complaints caused him to develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Greensides is now on long-term disability and believes he may never be fit to return to work.
It pretty much became all-encompassing. I mean, you can’t not think about it.– Stephen Greensides
“It’s overwhelming. Concentration is gone. I don’t remember things. I can’t focus and I can’t relax. I’m on constant alert,” he said.
It’s an outcome he believes could have been avoided, and it’s why Greensides is now suing the organization for up to $2.1 million in damages.
In his statement of claim filed last year, Greensides alleges “his mental health was irreversibly damaged” from his time with Scouts Canada because of “repeated exposure in responding to sexual and violent traumas” and “doing so with inadequate supports, assistance and supervision.”
His lawyer Rob Talach said the case raises questions not just about the ongoing sexual abuse within Scouts Canada, but also the “very negative effects on the people to have to come in and clean it up.”
Scouts Canada said it’s unable to respond to CBC’s question about this story due to the lawsuit. However, in a statement the organization said “nothing is more important to Scouts Canada than the safety of the youth in our care.”
In its statement of defence, Scouts Canada denied Greensides’s allegations, asserting that the organization met or exceeded its responsibilities as an employer.
“Safe Scouting is a key priority for Scouts Canada, and the organization has been a Canadian leader in youth safety protocols for years,” the statement reads.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Work was ‘all-encompassing’
Greensides began his role with Scouts Canada in 2016 after years of volunteering with the organization. He was excited to support its mission of helping youth become well-rounded individuals prepared for success in the world.
Hired as an associate director in the safe scouting department, Greensides handled current and historical misconduct allegations.
His work involved interviewing alleged victims, perpetrators and witnesses of sexual abuse, including cases involving minors and adults. He was also part of a three-person team responsible for operating a 24/7 hotline available nationwide for reporting incidents.
“[The work] just really became focused on the grooming, the predatory behaviours, the violations and the abuse,” he told CBC.
Among the cases he handled was that of Donald Sullivan, who was convicted of five counts of gross indecency in 2019 for crimes committed against 10 boys when he was a volunteer Scouts leader in Ottawa from 1972 to 1977.
It’s one of numerous criminal trials and reports that have highlighted allegations of sexual abuse within the organization, including the rape of minors.
Despite the severity of these cases, Greensides said he “felt like I was doing something very good,” though he acknowledged the emotional toll.
“It pretty much became all-encompassing. I mean, you can’t not think about it,” Greensides said.
According to his statement of claim, Greensides received “minimal psychological supports” during this time. He said Scouts Canada offered sessions with a psychologist twice a year.
In its statement of defence, the organization argued that Scouts Canada “provides a robust extended health benefits package” including mental health resources such as counselling.
“This was a regular offering to everyone involved in an incident and there were information signs posted throughout the office,” the organization stated, though it did not specify the exact resources available to employees.
Department was under-resourced
Greensides’s statement of claim describes a department that was “understaffed and overworked,” with a supervisor who left the position and was never replaced.
As a result, Greensides stated his workload increased, including handling “a traumatic youth-on-youth rape allegation” that he says significantly worsened his mental health.
In its statement of defence, Scouts Canada asserted that the organization’s CEO took over supervision duties of the department and that no concerns were raised about Greensides’s workload “or anything else at that time.” It also stated that between 2016 and 2018, he never discussed his mental health.
But Greensides contends no one checked in on him or offered support as he struggled to cope.
“My boss never came by and just said, you know, ‘How you doing?’ They never told me how to deal with this,” he said.
By 2020, Greensides says he was in a full mental health crisis. His wife Nathalie recalled how he became entirely consumed by his work, increasingly irritable and unable to sleep.
“He was just so full of heartache and stress,” she said.
Mental health collapse
Four years into the job, Greensides requested a transfer to another department and was reassigned to a position that still involved managing conflicts within the organization — contrary to the recommendations of a recent psychological assessment, he told CBC.
While Scouts Canada said it has no knowledge of that assessment, its statement of defence says Greensides had told superiors “he felt good about his new appointment.”
Greensides said he felt pressure to push through because of the nature of his job.
“I didn’t want to let my team down. I didn’t want to let my boss down. It was very important to me that I pushed through, and that’s what I tried to do,” he told CBC.
By 2022, Greensides said his mental health “collapsed” and he “ceased functioning” at work. He has been on mental health leave ever since, and was also diagnosed with depression and PTSD.
Greensides said he continues to suffer from those conditions.
“I miss working. I miss having a purpose. I miss my life,” he said.
The organization denied any breach of duty or care, asserting in its statement of defence that Scouts Canada “has met or exceeded the requirements set out in employment standards legislation.”
Ottawa Morning9:55Stephen Greensides says working at Scouts Canada gave him PTSD. Now he’s suing the organization
For four years, Stephen Greensides worked in Scouts Canada’s safe scouting department, handling safety complaints from across the organization. He alleges that the traumatic nature of many of those complaints caused him to develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Scouts Canada has denied all the allegations made against it.
Legal battle
Greensides’s lawyer Rob Talach argues a “sophisticated national organization” like Scouts Canada should have had more robust procedures in place to protect employees.
“They should have had regular checkups, should have rotated him out,” Talach said. “We don’t leave soldiers at the front line for years on end anymore. We rotate them out, we get them treatment, we do decompression.”
In his statement of claim, Greensides also accused Scouts Canada of negligence, having “failed to adequately warn employees … of the true nature of their employment and the significant exposure to trauma.”
“Frankly, I don’t think Scouts itself has a handle on the depth of this problem within this organization,” said Talach. “The volume is so much that it literally crushed the mental health of this individual working with it.”
In a statement to CBC, Scouts Canada said youth protection policies have been “significantly enhanced” over the past 40 years, and volunteers are required to undergo “rigorous training” and undergo a police check before being allowed to work with youth.
Police record checks are renewed every three years, and the organization also has a policy prohibiting a youth from being alone with a volunteer.
In its statement of defence, Scouts Canada also argues the details of the position were laid out in the job description “and would have been clear to [Greensides] at the time of his hire.”
The organization “maintains that it is transparent with all incoming employees joining the Safe Scouting team.” It said that includes having a psychologist take part in the interview processes to assess whether or not someone is suited for the role.
“At all relevant times, Greensides was deemed psychologically capable to undertake his role, and there was no evidence of any significant stress or signs of significant trauma symptoms,” reads the statement of defence.
But Talach argues “many suffer in silence when it comes to trauma.”
“We can’t put the burden on a trauma survivor or someone who’s suffering through that to have to seek aid themselves in a role like he was in,” he said.
Greensides, who has been off work for nearly two years, said his experience with the organization has left him struggling to cope. He admitted to abusing drugs and alcohol, experiencing regular panic attacks and even becoming suicidal at one point.
“I felt like I had lost all my innocence, like I had lost all my trust. I was just a shell,” he told CBC.
His wife Nathalie said both their lives have been changed forever.
“This isn’t something that you get through. This is something that you learn to live with, and I think it’s a grief for the loss of a life that you’re not living anymore,” she said.
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