MONTREAL - A Quebec couple who say they were humiliated and had their reputations ruined by overzealous authorities are seeking $5 million in civil damages over a bogus human-trafficking charge laid against them.

Nichan Manoukian, his wife Manoudshag Saryboyajian and their four children are suing the provincial government, the RCMP and Laval police, according to a statement of claim filed at the Montreal courthouse.

The Mounties trumpeted the couple's arrest in May 2007 as a first in Canada since criminal laws on human trafficking were introduced in 2005.

The couple were accused of mistreating their live-in Ethiopian nanny, Senait Tafesse Manaye.

The Crown dropped the charges against the couple last December.

The nanny began living with the family in 1997, in Lebanon, where the couple found her through an agency.

The couple have said they treated her well and returned to Canada with Manaye in 2004. Police removed her from the home in January 2006.

Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants commented Tuesday because the matter is before the courts and will be presented in front of a judge next month.

But the statement of claim alleges the family endured several embarrassing moments and have lost all credibility within their community since police began acting on a tip a woman was being treated like a slave.

Since police intervened, Manoukian, an interior decorator, has "fought tooth and nail to save, defend and re-establish his reputation and his wife,'' the statement reads.

The couple were handed a summons in May 2007 and the RCMP held a well-attended press conference around that time to discuss the arrest.

A statement issued by the RCMP at the time was still visible on the archives of the force's Quebec website as of Tuesday.

"After the press release was issued, local, regional, national and international media reported on their facts, whether in print, television or on the web,'' according to the claim.

"Certain media thought nothing of publishing the photos of the plaintiffs and their residence.''

As news of the charges spread quickly on the Internet, rumours and opinions began circulating about the family on chats and forums, the claim states.

The couple said they had to go through a 10-hour interrogation and were later photographed and fingerprinted at RCMP headquarters in Montreal.

The suit accuses the police and officers involved in the case of "exhibiting a negligent attitude, laxism, a rushed and incomplete case causing tremendous prejudice towards the couple in the process.''

The officers did not go far enough in their investigative work, the family insist.

"No attempt was made to minimize the prejudice caused to the rights of the plaintiffs or to save their dignity, integrity, honour or reputation,'' the claim states.