The Yukon Supreme Court has ordered a Whitehorse man to pay $5,000 to a young woman as compensation for sexual harassment while she was his employee, ending a drawn-out case that has damaged lives and divided their community.

Mark Hureau, 47, and Intersport, the franchise he owned, must pay financial damages to Devon Hanson, 22, for several incidents in March 2010.

The ruling upends an earlier decision by the Yukon Human Rights Board of Adjudication and sets a territorial precedent of awarding damages to harassment victims for "injury to dignity.”

Justice Ron Veale said the board's decision, which pegged the incidents "at the most mild end of the spectrum,” played down the psychological impact of sexually inappropriate encounters.

"There is a danger in trivializing the awards for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect for sexual harassment,” Veale wrote in his decision.

"Psychological injuries are just as serious as physical injuries and are often more difficult to remedy and make the subject whole again ... the injury in this case was not trivial.”

He said "the complainant was young, vulnerable and in her first employment situation, and there was some indication she suffered psychological impacts,” for which she saw a counsellor.

"There is no requirement that the act of sexual harassment should be harsh and long-lasting to constitute injury to dignity, feelings or self-respect,” Veale noted.

"As well, the reality is that it ended largely because the complainant quit her employment.”

Hanson had received three months' salary and some legal costs as a result of the board's ruling, but no money for damages.

During the appeal hearing in February and March, Hanson's lawyer, Rick Buchan, pointed to her own statements to the board from 2012 as evidence of trauma.

"At first, it was difficult. I was still kind of in shock about what happened,” she said.

By then, she was a political science student at St. Francis Xavier University.

"It's affected my sleep a lot…. I find myself sleeping through the day, missing classes and labs….”

Buchan underscored the broader significance of legal situations like Hanson's.

"It's important to encourage others to stand up, girls and women ... to ensure that the public value of confronting sexual discrimination is not swept under the rug,” he said.

"Otherwise, it will continue to hide in the shadows ... and be tolerated.”

He said there was a violation of trust implicit in the messages sent by Hureau — Hanson's basketball coach since she was "14 or 15” — and the lasting toll that could take on an young person "on the threshold of womanhood.”

"As a result of the harassment, Ms. Hanson left her job,” the Yukon Human Rights Commission stated in a release today.

"She was a teenager at the time, while Mr. Hureau was an employer in his 40s and also her basketball coach.”

All parties had appealed the board's 2012 decision, with Hureau taking issue with its finding of sexual harassment and both Hanson and the commission arguing in a cross-appeal on issues of remedy and employer liability.

Hureau was unsuccessful on all 10 grounds of his appeal, while Hanson received $10,000 less than she had argued for.

"This decision is significant because it provides future guidance to the board of adjudication on the remedial nature of awards for injury to dignity, as has long been understood and applied by human rights tribunals across the country, if not always here in Yukon,” said Colleen Harrington, the commission's lawyer.

Tracey Wallace, the commission's educator, said that "employers can prevent many cases of sexual harassment by having a clear, comprehensive anti-harassment policy in place.”

Neither Hureau nor his lawyer offered comment on the decision when contacted by the Star this morning.

Heather MacFadgen, the commission's director, noted the importance of the decision in the Yukon: "It is the first case that we know of, and a precedent therefore that the board will now have to follow for damages for injury to dignity.”

The board has awarded damages in past cases of discrimination or harassment was proven, but "the recent court decision sets a precedent and provides guidance to the board on future hearings," MacFadgen said.

Hanson's father, Michael, was in the courtroom for much of the proceedings.

"It's been hard on all of us, especially my daughter,” he told the Star in February.

"I'm pretty emotional right now. It's been a huge strain.”

He admitted he had become conflicted about "going this route,” undertaking legal costs and drawing out over four years the experiences of four weeks instead of dropping a matter verging on the merely inappropriate, as the board noted.

"She's basically been shunned by the kids who she played basketball with…. It's been a hard piece,” he said.

Hureau spoke to the Star last month about the board decision and his appeal.

"We feel the Board of Adjudication made errors in the way they dealt with the evidence and with the way they applied the standard test for sexual harassment,” he said.

"Regarding damages, we are of the opinion that the board were correct in their decision,” Hureau said. "We are hopeful that the truth finally gets recognized.”

Pam Hureau, Mark Hureau's wife, said in an interview the drawn-out legal process has taken its toll — personally and financially.

"We've lost everything, our business — everything,” she said.

"It affects everything in our lives: family, friends, the way the community sees you.

"I have a son who goes to high school.”

She said her husband, who has been in the Yukon since childhood, has never received a complaint from his employees nor the basketball players he coached in the past 15 years.

"He's an amazing person. He's volunteered in the community all our lives,” she said.

"He has been pretty depressed. He's not at all the same person.”