The president of a school PAC in Maple Ridge who received $10,000 in PAC money for legal fees, has filed documents in B.C.'s Supreme Court alleging the teacher who accused him of bullying was attempting to ruin his reputation.

In the documents that were filed Wednesday, February 19, Craig Towers accused Yennadon Elementary School teacher Janine LeBlanc of intentionally trying to ruin his reputation, both in his role as the PAC president, and occupationally in his role as an RCMP officer in Burnaby.

Parents at the school were up in arms after the PAC voted to give Towers $10,000 in November, 2024, money earmarked for students, for his personal legal fees.

At the time there were allegations being made online in social media posts about Towers, which could not be substantiated. 

Tower's Notice of Civil Claim has brought more clarity to the allegations.

Any and all allegations have yet to be proven in court.

Towers said he received a document from counsel for SD42 around Nov. 26, 2024 alleging that he bullied or harassed LeBlanc while in his role of PAC President. 

"The Complaint was clearly marked 鈥淐onfidential"," read the claim, and identified Towers as the person who allegedly bullied and harassed LeBlanc, which is a breach of the school district's policies.

He was asked in the document not to share the information with any other party apart from his support person or legal counsel, should he choose to access one.

Allegations against Towers included: the cancellation of the hot lunch program at the school after LeBlance raised concerns about its frequency; the cancellation of World Teacher Day and that Towers refused to approve PAC fundraising for any programs suggested by LeBlanc; that Towers attacked LeBlanc in a letter to the principal of Yennadon Elementary and the school district superintendent at the time, Harry Dhillon, after she made suggestions on how to avoid allergen exposure in her class from hot chocolate; that Towers approached LeBlanc in her classroom on Sept. 27, last year, to discuss her concern about snacks for the Terry Fox Run because of a severe allergy in her class; and that Towers parked in a no stopping zone to take pictures of LeBlanc and her students who were outside the school building and yelled at LeBlanc he could "park anywhere" when she informed him of where he stopped his car. 

In the Notice of Civil Claim, Towers claimed that LeBlanc knew or ought to have known that the allegations were, "false, overblown, or otherwise did not actually constitute bullying and harassment, as alleged or at all."

He claimed that while LeBlanc's allegations were levelled at Towers, they actually concerned decisions made by the Yennadon PAC as a whole. 

And he accused LeBlanc of making the allegations, "out of retribution to fictitious perceived slights against her by Towers," and to weaponizing the investigation policies of the school district. 

Towers also accused the school district of failing to get relevant evidence from LeBlanc, or other internal sources, including other district employees or databases. 

Because of this, Towers claimed, he and other individuals had to submit themselves to "voluntary interviews" to help the school district investigate the matter. 

On Dec. 4, last year, Towers said he submitted a report to the school district denying the claims made against him.

In addition, he said, he gave the district additional material that showed the Yennadon PAC had, indeed, supported initiatives suggested by LeBlanc, contrary to what she claimed.

He also claimed emails that had been used as evidence of harassment in the district's complaint, showed, "a discussion as amongst parties that no reasonably informed and neutral third party observer could believe constituted either an 'attack' or bullying and harassment."

Towers said on Feb. 10 of this year, he was summoned to a meeting by the school district who told him that the complaint had been dismissed and there would be no further investigation. 

He also accused LeBlanc of violating the confidentiality request by the school board by anonymously attacking him online as a concerned parent, making defamatory statements against him, available to the public to read. Towers also claimed defamatory posts were made by a "John Doe", a secondary defendant in the lawsuit, whose identity and residence, the document states, are unknown. 

Towers is asking for damages for the harm done not only to his reputation, but financial harm and emotional suffering. He is also seeking damages for the manner in which the defamatory statements were made and publicized and wants a formal apology to be publicly posted by LeBlanc, absolving Towers of wrongdoing and admitting to purposely trying to damage his reputation. 

LeBlanc had only 21 days to file a response to the civil claim. A response has not yet been filed by her lawyers. 

The next Yennadon Elementary School PAC meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, where some parents have indicated they will be asking for the PAC to pay the money back or to step down.