Police coverup, corruption and harassment case to move ahead in Ottawa court

A recent court ruling in Ottawa paves the way for a potentially explosive case involving a woman police officer who blew the whistle on alleged bullying, harassment, corruption, abuse of power and coverup at an Ontario police force that remains under a provincial investigation.

Sgt. Nicole Whiteway's lawsuit reads like a Hollywood script, detailing horrific domestic abuse that she alleges was exacerbated by a web of conspiracy on the part of her colleagues and superiors, complete with a twist ending that includes a death certificate from Mexico. 

But it all began with an internal workplace harassment complaint she filed with the Durham Regional Police Service in 2016.

The case has since spiralled into accusations of unlawful conduct, targeted malice and retaliation involving one of Durham's highest-ranking cops, Uday Jaswal, who would later take on the rank of deputy chief with the Ottawa Police Service, but quit in disgrace. 

Details of Whiteway's saga in part spurred Ontario's solicitor general to call for an investigation in 2019. 

A provincial oversight body took on the task of investigating Durham police, but several years on, it remains at an impasse due to the force "repeatedly refusing to cooperate and provide information," according to Tribunals Ontario. 

All of this has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and it could cost more in the future.

$40.5M lawsuit

In April, Ontario Superior Court Justice Kerry Lee McVey ruled Whiteway's lawsuit can proceed, which lawyers and whistleblowers hope will open the door for other police officers to air grievances previously kept internal.

It also means that the force being sued — Durham police in this case — will have to spell out its side of the story as part of the public record if it is to fight the $40.5-million lawsuit.

"Nicole's case, I believe, is going to open the door for more people to access justice through the court system," said Kelly Donovan, a former Waterloo Regional Police Service constable who now researches and makes recommendations about how forces in Canada could better handle internal investigations. 

"I think it will be one of the first times that we're hearing these egregious allegations voiced in a public forum," Donovan said. "I really hope she does see that day in court."

The Whiteway case 

Nicole Whiteway, a third-generation police officer, started her career almost 30 years ago, following the path blazed by her mother Sherry Whiteway, the first woman to become a deputy chief in Durham. Her grandfather was also an officer on that force.

Now the sergeant, currently on medical leave, is attempting to set a new precedent in civil court.

Whiteway and her four children are named as plaintiffs while the Durham Regional Police Service, its board and 17 employees including former chief Paul Martin, former Durham and Ottawa deputy chief Jaswal, and other individually named members are the defendants.

None of the allegations in the civil suit has been proven in court.

While the case was initially launched two years ago, defendants have yet to file statements of defence. Instead, they attempted to dismiss the case, arguing the court has no jurisdiction because it's an internal labour relations matter. 

McVey disagreed and the case will now proceed, but it could take years before it's resolved either inside or outside a courtroom. 

Kirk Boggs, a partner with Lerners LLP in Toronto, represents all the Durham police defendants in the case. He asked CBC not to contact any of the current or former officers identified in the claim. 

"As this matter is presently before the courts, we do not believe it is appropriate for us to be commenting on it to the media. We trust you appreciate our position," wrote Boggs in an email.

How it all began

CBC has secured files through court services, received exclusive access to legal documents and spoken to police whistleblowers including current and former officers from the Durham force. 

Whiteway's troubles at work began in March 2016.

Just back from maternity leave, she was working a modified schedule because her infant son was suffering from a life-threatening medical condition.

Her supervisor at the time, Insp. Nick Lisi, didn't approve of her accommodated schedule, Whiteway claims. 

"He would frequently make comments such as, 'You need to decide whether you're a mom or a cop,'" according to a legal factum produced by Whiteway's lawyers and submitted to a disciplinary tribunal in March 2019.

But that wasn't the only issue. Her claims also detail Lisi's demeaning comments, vulgar language, and constant bullying.

"Lisi also made inappropriate sexual comments; he spoke about his penis," notes the factum.  

In November 2016, Whiteway filed a formal internal complaint about Lisi.

"A decision that would ultimately ruin her career and life in the process," claims the factum.

When police officers responded to a credible report of homicidal and suicidal threats ... the police purportedly prioritized their workplace agenda over the plaintiff's safety.- Justice Kerry Lee McVey

Soon after her complaint against her supervisor, Whiteway said she became a target.

But things at home weren't going well either. 

Whiteway had separated from her husband David Sanderson in 2015, but they shared two of her four children, which meant they remained in contact. 

In April 2017, Whiteway said she was out of town with another man when Sanderson called her in a jealous rage, threatening to kill himself and their four-year-old daughter. 

She called 911 and Durham officers — her colleagues — soon found Sanderson and the child, unharmed. One of the officers told Whiteway they'd invoke the Mental Health Act and take Sanderson to an Oshawa hospital. 

A short time later, the officer told her Sanderson was "in with the doctor and that everything was being addressed," according to court documents. 

When her ex was released that evening without charge, the cop told her "he was not a threat or danger to anyone." 

The next day, Sanderson was once again in distress and was taken to another Durham hospital. A nurse called Whiteway, who was still considered Sanderson's next-of-kin, asking about his medical history.

Whiteway asked the nurse about the previous day's hospital visit. The nurse said there was no record of it. 

'Carte blanche' to torment his family

Sanderson later admitted to Whiteway that her colleagues hadn't actually taken him into the hospital, but had instead driven him to the hospital's parking garage, Whiteway claims in court filings.

Then the cops asked him for "dirt" on his ex-wife.

They wanted "specific information about Whiteway's complaint against Lisi," according to her claim. It notes more officers showed up to the hospital garage and told Sanderson that Whiteway was a "slut" and in sexual relationships with "guys at work."

When the cops later took him home, they warned him not to tell anyone about the conversation. 

Not only was Sanderson not psychologically assessed after threatening to kill his daughter and himself, he was allegedly provoked, giving him "carte blanche" to further torment his family, notes a court document.

McVey mentions the incident in her decision to strike the motion to dismiss Whiteway's case.  

"When police officers responded to a credible report of homicidal and suicidal threats levied by the plaintiff's abusive ex-spouse, the police purportedly prioritized their workplace agenda over the plaintiff's safety and that of her family," wrote McVey.  

"It is arguable that a dangerous outcome to their incendiary behaviour was objectively foreseeable."

A complaint was filed with the Ontario Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), but the Durham force refused to disclose anything about that case to Whiteway, according to the legal factum. 

Eventually, former deputy chief Uday Jaswal told Whiteway the matter was resolved and the officers received "some sort of informal penalty," notes the court document.

Vicious, terrorizing behaviour 

In the six months following Sanderson's police interrogation in the hospital parking garage, Whiteway says her ex-husband's behaviour became "vicious."

Court files document physical and alleged sexual abuse that included "forced" and "non-consensual sex," being smothered with a pillow, and death threats against Whiteway and their children. 

As Sanderson continued to terrorize his family, he told Whiteway repeatedly that the Durham police were on his side and would never intervene. She and her children "had no choice but to submit to Sanderson's brutal authority," states her claim.  

In October 2017, Sanderson came to her home and began destroying property. Files show she called 911 and Durham officers arrived, but no charges were laid. 

Whiteway claims the officers told her they didn't want to deal with her "because of the problems she was causing in the Service." 

Criminal conviction for domestic abuse

That was the breaking point for Whiteway.

The next day, she went to Durham's domestic violence unit and officially filed a complaint against her ex. She showed photos of her bruises and smashed property. 

When she finished describing what had happened over the previous months, the investigator said it was "one of the worst cases of domestic abuse that he had investigated," notes the legal factum. 

Sanderson was charged with 29 criminal offences, arrested and briefly held in custody. 

Fourteen months later, on Jan. 29, 2019, Sanderson made a deal with the Crown and pleaded guilty to eight counts including multiple assaults, assaults with a weapon and uttering death threats, according to the Oshawa courthouse. 

He was sentenced to 79 days in jail.  

While Whiteway's ex is also named as a defendant in her multi-million-dollar civil suit against the Durham police, her lawyer Justin Villeneuve said he's since received a death certificate for Sanderson from Mexico. 

The law firm has no other confirmation that Sanderson is actually dead.

Whiteway charged under Police Act

Back in 2017, after her ex-husband's arrest and brief detention for domestic assault, Whiteway started feeling safer. She said that's when some members of the Durham Regional Police Service doubled down.

Sanderson complained to police that Whiteway stole money from him while he was in custody. The allegation was baseless and the Crown saw no reasonable prospect of conviction, according to her lawsuit.

"Sanderson's evidence was laughable. He claimed there was an envelope of money stolen. He could not say how much money," states Whiteway's claim.

But police leadership pursued the ex-husband's allegation and several months later, in April 2018, four internal disciplinary charges were laid against Whiteway in relation to the alleged theft. 

"The prosecution has fully embraced Sanderson as its complainant, despite the fact that he has a criminal record for violent and threatening offences against Sgt. Whiteway and has a clear motivation to fabricate his allegations against her," her lawyer claimed in a factum.

Alleged extortion

At the time of Whiteway's disciplinary charges, Jaswal, then Durham's deputy chief, talked to her about possible solutions. 

But he wanted something in return, according to her claim.

"Jaswal plainly stated that they would only withdraw the [disciplinary] charges if Whiteway provided damning information on [another officer]," states her claim. She refused. 

Jaswal was charged by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission in April 2021 for allegedly trying to strong-arm Whiteway. 

At the time of those charges, Jaswal was already suspended with pay after being charged in 2020 with six counts of misconduct for allegedly sexually harassing three Ottawa police employees. When he resigned in 2022 all disciplinary charges laid against him in Durham and Ottawa dissolved. 

On June 25, Jaswal was charged criminally with sexual assault for an alleged incident while he was a police inspector in 2011. He's to appear in court on this case, unrelated to the Durham situation, on July 18.

More whistleblowers

After two years and at significant cost to the taxpayer, the disciplinary charges against Whiteway were eventually dismissed in 2020.

But her case is just one of the threads that unravelled a cascade of allegations from police and civilian whistleblowers against the senior command at Durham.

Five years on, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission inquiry continues, with legal costs now in the millions. 

Former Waterloo constable Kelly Donovan says she's relieved Whiteway's civil case is moving forward. 

"When you're fighting a battle like this, you're not fighting it for yourself. You're fighting it so that the public and the people around you see ... everything that's been kept under a lid," said Donovan.

Whiteway's lawyer said he's heard from other current and former Ontario police officers inquiring about their own potential lawsuits.

"The complaints are fairly egregious and for the most part they would shock the general public," said Justin Villeneuve, a partner with WVGB Law Group in Ottawa.

Whiteway's story began with harassment allegations against her supervisor. Many of those complaints were later corroborated by colleagues, according to court documents.

But the disciplinary case against her alleged harasser, Insp. Nick Lisi, dissolved when he retired on May 8, 2018.

Support is available for victims of intimate partner violence. Access crisis lines and local support services through this government of Canada resource list . ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. 

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