Woman at center of Hockey Canada scandal breaks silence

EM, the woman who filed a lawsuit against Hockey Canada in 2018 over alleged group sexual assault by some members of Canada’s junior ice hockey team, says she has felt “vulnerable and exposed” since news of her allegations broke two ago months was published.

“I never wanted to draw attention to that,” she said in a brief interview with The Globe and Mail on Monday. “I just wanted consequences for actions and some accountability.”

EM filed its complaint on April 20, 2022. Hockey Canada closed the case by May 24, 2022, and two days later, news of that deal broke, which EM says was never intended.

Since then, the story has become a national scandal. Through it all, the woman, identified only as EM, remained calm and unwilling to fan the flames any further.

“It was difficult to see the facts in pieces rather than as a whole,” she told The Globe.

The Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal has had widespread repercussions across the country. Here’s what you should know

Hockey Canada has promised its players sexual consent training. What does that mean?

Hockey Canada’s handling of their complaint has become the subject of federal hearings and a new criminal investigation by London Police. The National Hockey League has launched its own investigation. Hockey Canada has revived a previously dormant independent review. And The Globe revealed the existence of the National Equity Fund, a special multimillion-dollar fund built through player registration fees that Hockey Canada has used to resolve sexual assault claims.

Rob Talach, EM’s attorney, says that as he watched the coverage of his client’s complaint, it was frustrating to see misinformation spread that she was not cooperating with the police. Some of that came from Hockey Canada.

When TSN first reported the settlement in May, the national hockey federation released a statement, showing it learned of the allegations four years ago and hired the Henein Hutchison law firm to investigate, but “the person making the allegations, chose not to speak to either the police or Hockey Canada’s independent investigator, and also chose not to identify the players involved. That was her right and we fully respect her wish.”

But that wasn’t true, said Mr. Talach. EM worked together back in 2018 and they’re still working together today, he said. (Hockey Canada corrected his statement about the police after being contacted by Mr. Talach.)

After the London Police Service recently reopened their complaint, EM met with detectives last week. And on Thursday, she took a private polygraph exam, the results of which were shared with The Globe.

Mr. Talach says it was important for EM to do the polygraph because it was recently implied that she had not been entirely honest in her account of events.

The polygraph test, which was arranged and paid for by EM’s Legal Department, was administered by Zaia Lazar, a forensic polygraph examiner at Business of Truth Polygraph Services. According to a biography included in the lie detector report, Mr Lazar was a police officer with the London Police Service from 1992 to 2014 and a polygraph examiner with the police from 2006 to 2011.

Mr. Lazar was provided with a summary of the case and a copy of EM’s statement. He then asked her if she lied to him about what she said, misled him, and if she even gave a false statement. The audit results document states that the auditor found “that [E.M.] was honest when answering ‘no’ to the relevant questions.”

In Canada, polygraph results are not admissible as evidence of a person’s credibility in a criminal proceeding. Nor would EM’s truthful result speak to the question of whether the hockey players honestly and reasonably believed she agreed.

But in a case that has been largely in the public eye, it’s an extra layer of information that EM wanted to add, Mr Talach said.

(The Globe reached out to lawyers representing some of the players on Monday afternoon and received no response.)

It was reported that EM’s settlement agreement contained a confidentiality clause. The details of what she is allowed to disclose are unknown, and neither she nor Mr. Talach would discuss the agreement or the details of the alleged attack. However, her version of events is included in her lawsuit.

In that document, which has not been examined in court, EM said she went to a bar in London on June 18, 2018. There she met one of the hockey players and some of his teammates who were in town for a Hockey Canada gala earlier in the day. The player and his teammates bought her drinks and shots and she became increasingly intoxicated, the claim said. At one point, she left the bar with the first player, went back to his hotel room, and engaged in consensual sexual activity.

But after that, according to the allegation, the first player invited his teammates into the room without EM’s knowledge. She claims to have been sexually abused and assaulted for several hours afterwards. In her allegation, EM explained that she was filled with fear and complied with their pleas, sometimes crying and trying to leave, but the players then “directed, manipulated and intimidated” her into staying, the lawsuit alleges.

Two weeks ago, lawyers for some players showed The Globe two videos taken on the night of the alleged attack. The attorneys say the footage shows the sexual contact was consensual and that EM was not scared, intimidated or intoxicated as she claimed. The first clip, taken at 3:25 am, is six seconds long and shows her from the neck up. A male voice is heard saying, “Are you okay with that?”

“I agree,” EM replies.

In the second video, shot at 4:26 a.m., she covers herself with a towel in a hotel room: “Are you record me?” she asks. “OK fine. It was all consensual. You’re so paranoid saint. I enjoyed it, it was fine. It was all consensual. I’m so sober so I can’t do this now.”

When The Globe published the story, EM and Mr. Talach declined to comment, but the fact that those details were made public filled them with fear, he said.

“Providing the videos to the media could be viewed by some as an attack on her credibility,” Mr Talach said, adding that it was one of the reasons she wanted to take the lie detector test. “She wanted to take that extra step to do whatever it took to establish that she was telling the truth.”

Mr Talach noted that the videos from the night are not evidence of consent – which in Canada must be given at the time of sexual contact – and instead depict a moment that lacks the overall context of the evening.

“In my view, at the end of a romantic endeavor, few feel compelled to document their partner’s consent, unless there is any doubt as to the validity of that consent,” said Mr. Talach.

Lawyers for some players also provided The Globe with a series of text messages between EM and one of the players.

A little over a day after the incident, one of the players texted EM to ask if she had gone to the police. According to these texts, EM informed the player that her mother called the police against her will.

“You said you were having fun,” the player wrote.

“I was really drunk, didn’t feel good at all afterwards. But I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble,” she replied. “I agreed to go home with you, it was everyone else after that which I didn’t expect. I just felt like I was being laughed at and taken advantage of.”

He later replied: “You must speak to your mother immediately and clear things up with the police before it goes too far. This is a serious matter that she misrepresents and could have a significant impact on many people, including you.”

EM informed the player that she had contacted the police, saying it was a mistake and she didn’t want to pursue the complaint any further.

In fact, said Mr. Talach, EM spent a few days considering their options, but then decided to move on.

On June 22, EM went to London Police Headquarters and spoke to a detective. She went to the hospital that same day for a physical exam and later gave investigators her clothes from the night of the alleged attack. As early as June 24, she made it clear she wanted police to press charges and met with police again two days later, Mr Talach said. In August 2018, she spoke to the police again. Finally, in February 2019, she was told that no charges would be filed.

Mr. Talach says EM was not surprised by this development given how much time had passed, but it was a setback in her recovery and delayed her decision to start a civil suit.

“If a victim takes a step, whatever step, and is unsuccessful — whether telling a partner or going to the police — it exponentially increases the delay before taking action again,” he said, referring to the three-year delay between closures of the initial police investigation and her lawsuit.

One thing EM won’t do is sit in for an interview with Hockey Canada or NHL investigators, Mr. Talach said.

“She has provided an eight-page statement with an additional five pages of photos and 4½ pages of text messages. She has already initiated civil proceedings and has spoken to the police on several occasions. I mean how often does she have to do that?” he said.

They have also provided the polygraph to Hockey Canada and the NHL and will be sending it to the police as well.

Written by Globe editors, our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters give you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.