A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered a disbarred lawyer to pay $270,000 to a woman he was convicted of sexually assaulting in 2018.
Justice Elizabeth McDonald, in a May 30 decision, said a provincial court judge convicted Marc Andre Scheirer in November 2020 of the sexual assault of the plaintiff.
He received a conditional sentence and two years’ probation.
Scheirer, also known as Marc Andre Eckardt, unsuccessfully appealed the conviction.
McDonald’s decision draws from the appeal ruling to detail the case.
It said the woman went to the lawyer’s office on Feb. 28, 2018 for a meeting. She was seeking advice on removing bail conditions against her husband.
The decision said the woman was showing Scheirer photos on her cellphone of the products that she designed and sold as part of a business.
It said the lawyer moved a chair to hers, put his head on her chest and his right hand behind her back.
When she asked what he was doing, “he put his left hand on her leg and started rubbing it and moving it up towards her crotch. When she pushed him away and went to stand up, he pushed her down and said, ‘Nicer you are to me now, the sooner we get your husband home.’”
McDonald said the woman said she was in shock as the assault was occurring, and began crying as she was driving home.
She told her husband and a friend. Both urged her to call police which she did the next day.
The woman told the court she became uncomfortable around male co-workers, had issues with a new male doctor and began taking a low-dose antidepressant.
“She described a loss of confidence in herself since the sexual assault and a loss of trust in other people, especially men,” McDonald said.
The court heard the woman has struggled to return to her former level of participation and enjoyment in life.
McDonald also heard from a psychiatrist about the changes in the woman since the incident.
“Those changes include a period of intense nightmares which resurface when the plaintiff is reminded of the sexual assault, persistent discomfort around men, diminished confidence and persistent heightened startle response,” McDonald said.
The judge said while Scheirer denies the offence occurred, he didn’t challenge the trial judge’s findings during his unsuccessful appeal.
“There is no doubt the defendant is liable to the plaintiff for the sexual assault he committed on Feb. 28, 2018,” McDonald said.
Broken down, the damages are:
• non-pecuniary damages of $200,000, including a $50,000 allotment to take account of the aggravating factors in the case;
• punitive damages of $50,000; and,
• cost of future care of $20,000.
The Law Society of BC disbarred Scheirer for a second time in December 2024.
“The hearing panel found that Eckardt sexually harassed his client with unwelcome comments, unwelcome advances and unwelcome physical contact, and that his conduct constituted professional misconduct,” the society said.
