Nygard lawyer Prober reprimanded for comments on alleged victims

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This article was published 27/11/2022 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Law Society of Manitoba has reprimanded Winnipeg lawyer Jay Prober for repeated comments he made in the media alleging women accusing fallen fashion magnate Peter Nygard of sex crimes were lying and looking for money.

Prober pleaded guilty to one count of failing to be courteous and civil in his capacity as a lawyer, in a plea bargain that will require him to pay $4,000 in hearing costs.

A second charge of making public statements that may prejudice a party’s right to a fair trial was stayed.

Nygard, 81, has been in custody awaiting possible extradition to the U.S. since December 2020, when he was arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges dating back decades. Since then, he has been charged with additional historical sex offences in Toronto and Montreal.

A class action lawsuit filed against Nygard in February 2020 includes similar allegations from dozens of women.

Former Winnipegger KC Allan, 59, filed a complaint with the law society after Prober, in multiple interviews with the Free Press and other media outlets between February and March 2020, alleged Nygard’s accusers were trying to cash in on the mounting sexual assault claims against his client.

“As I predicted before, more women are jumping on what they perceived to be the money train, the gravy train,” Prober said in one interview. “They see this as a cash cow. I believe that explains the rather ludicrous number of additional plaintiffs.”

In another interview, Prober described an alleged victim as “a purported actress who is now playing another role.”

Prober’s comments were “offensive, demeaning and derogatory,” law society lawyer Ayli Klein told the disciplinary hearing panel.

“Mr. Prober’s duty to his client could have and should have been fulfilled with different words, words that were more carefully chosen, that could have conveyed the message that his client maintained his innocence without demeaning or offending his client’s accusers,” Klein said.

Prober’s comments to the media traded on damaging stereotypes that discourage women from coming forward with claims of abuse, said Shannon Moroney, a therapist and advocate for 40 of Nygard’s accusers.

“Mr. Prober asserted the myth that women come forward to seek financial reward… reducing us to prostitutes,” Moroney told the disciplinary panel via Zoom. “It is exactly why many women don’t come forward to speak their truth, seek justice and start their healing journeys.”

Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Moroney added: “In my work, I know that and have heard from directly, many, many women… who, after hearing Jay Prober’s remarks to the media about survivors, decided not to take their complaints forward to police.”

Allan, who has accused Nygard of raping her in 1979, when she was 17, told the disciplinary panel Prober “impugned her credibility” and damaged her reputation. “Mr. Prober’s actions have caused me to feel that Manitoba is no longer my safe place.”

Prober’s comments were made at a time when he had advance knowledge of a New York Times report that found some members of the class action suit had been paid to fabricate allegations against Nygard, said Prober’s lawyer, Richard Wolson.

Prober apologized for his comments, saying they were a response to Nygard being “brutalized almost on a daily basis in the media.”

“I made some harsh comments, comments that were harmful and hurtful, and a I recognize that,” Prober said. “I deeply regret any harm and hurt that my comments caused anyone and for that I sincerely apologize.”

During a news event Monday hosted by the Manitoba Liberals, Allan told reporters: “I don’t believe for a second that Mr. Prober is truly remorseful. I think he’s remorseful that he got caught… This whole process has taught me that (it’s) a toothless system of reprimand… All he had to do was look contrite today and say sorry, almost as many times as he called us all lying whores, basically, and it would all go away.”

Prober, who has no prior disciplinary record in his 52-year law career, has shown remorse through his guilty plea and has completed a trauma-informed lawyering course offered by the law society, Klein said.

A reprimand is a “very serious” consequence for Prober’s actions and will be a “permanent blemish” on his record, she added.

A reprimand is “fit and appropriate in the circumstances,” said disciplinary panel chairwoman Kathy Bueti.

“We can take some solace this was isolated and situational to this case, these circumstances and this period of time,” Bueti said. “We are not left with the sense this was premeditated in any way.”

Bueti said the takeaway from the hearing is lawyers will be held accountable “for what they say both inside and outside of the courtroom.”

A written decision will be released within the next 60 to 90 days, Bueti said.

— With files from Danielle Da Silva

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca