Former partner of Ron Starr brings forward new allegations in Karen Ras lawsuit 

A Mississauga resident claiming to have had a previous personal relationship with former councillor Ron Starr has provided allegations in an affidavit for the lawsuit Karen Ras filed against Starr and the City of Mississauga. 

In the affidavit filed April 6, Mississauga resident Denise Emily Sokram claims she was “in a personal relationship” with Starr when he allegedly scratched Ras’s car over a period of about three years in a City Hall parking lot during the last term of council. Sokram alleges Starr was concerned “police were looking for him” after an alleged April 13, 2021, key-scratching incident. According to the affidavit, which has not been tested in court, prior to seeing surveillance video of the alleged incident, Starr “was nervous and kept repeating ‘my life is over.’” She also alleges Starr disclosed a plan to blame Sokram if the footage showed him scratching Ras’s vehicle, because she was causing him stress that led to his behaviour, she claims.

“When the surveillance video did come, Mr. Starr viewed it, saw that it did not directly show him keying the vehicle, and was immensely relieved,” the affidavit alleges.

“The allegations made in Ms. Sokram’s affidavit are patently false and defamatory. This Affidavit has been improperly filed with the Court, with the intent of maligning Mr. Starr’s reputation and character,” Emilio Bisceglia, Starr’s lawyer, told The Pointer. “To be clear, Mr. Starr has put all necessary parties on notice that the false allegations made against him constitute libel and slander. Mr. Starr will, without hesitation, pursue all necessary legal action to admonish the improper publication and dissemination of such false and defamatory statements.”

Former councillor Ron Starr has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer files)

Ras resigned in early 2022 following her allegations that Starr had repeatedly harassed her throughout much of the previous council term, and allegedly scratched her car multiple times. Starr has denied the allegations and has since taken his own legal action against the City. The City’s now former integrity commissioner, who mishandled the case, eventually found Starr, on a balance of probabilities, according to available evidence, scratched her car on one occasion (he did not make a determination on other alleged incidents involving the car). The integrity commissioner’s findings, which are part of an internal City Hall accountability function, have not been tested in court and do not have any legal weight.

After what Ras describes in her lawsuit allegations as “feeling frightened, concerned for her safety and entirely unsupported by City Management,” the former councillor filed a damning claim in November against the City of Mississauga and Starr. The lawsuit, which claims she “resigned, involuntarily, and was constructively dismissed from her role,” also alleges Mayor Bonnie Crombie and former City manager and CAO Paul Mitcham, who stepped down just two months after the lawsuit was filed, ignored her requests for support during the alleged repeated harassment by Starr.

The affidavit also contains details on alleged text messages sent to Starr from Councillor Carolyn Parrish showing she was supportive of Starr.

Councillor Carolyn Parrish denies allegations in a recent affidavit filed for former councillor Karen Ras’s wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

(The Pointer files) 

According to the affidavit, Parrish and Starr allegedly worked to appoint Ras’s interim successor, Pat Mullin, who was eventually chosen by council to the vacant Ward 2 position in February of last year to fill in until the October municipal election.  

In an email to The Pointer, Parrish denies the allegations made against her in the affidavit. 

“I knew nothing of the harassment of Councillor Ras until all of Council was informed. I had no part in it,” she wrote. “I have no further comment on the substance of the affidavit, which is inaccurate and should not be relied upon.” 

Sokram also alleges Starr was abusive to her during their relationship. 

Bisceglia told The Pointer his client is “horrified that he is being falsely accused of abuse,” adding that Starr “condemns abuse of any kind and he intends to vigorously defend all such allegations made against him to clear his name.”

He addressed the affidavit’s reliance on text messages from Starr’s phone.

“It appears that Mr. Starr’s electronic communications have been stolen, tampered with and/or manipulated by unlawful means. It also appears some parties are now knowingly in possession of such stolen and altered property. As a result, this aspect of the dispute is now a criminal matter.”

Bisceglia said Starr has filed several police reports against Sokram “due to her conduct,” and an ongoing police investigation “precludes Starr from commenting any further at this time.” He noted Starr will be pursuing “all legal remedies with respect to the stolen and altered property and will seek damages for the wrongful conduct from all parties involved.”   

In July, Council eventually voted to suspend Starr without pay for two months after the City’s former integrity commissioner found Starr, on a balance of probabilities, scratched Ras’s car on at least one occasion. The move triggered Starr’s own legal action which Council later voted to settle near the end of last year. In her claim, Ras maintains Starr scratched her vehicle eight times over the course of a three-year period (the integrity commissioner's findings only dealt with one incident) and has filed for $100,000 against the former councillor. Starr has previously maintained his position that the allegations against him did not happen. 

“In due course, Mr. Starr is certain that the truth will prevail and he will once and for all be vindicated as his innocence, which he has maintained throughout, will be proven,” Bisceglia said. 

The City of Mississauga has also filed to throw out the wrongful dismissal lawsuit by Ras, arguing she “was not an employee.” Lawyers representing the City filed a motion of defence in January to have Ras’s $686,000 lawsuit dismissed, arguing the former Ward 2 councillor, as with all members of City Council, was not considered an employee of the corporation and therefore is not entitled to remedies she’s seeking for an alleged breach of contract amounting to constructive dismissal. 

The City of Mississauga’s lawyers are set to appear before a judge in September to deal with the motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock 

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