Forestry firm sues B.C. city over reaction to mistreatment claims

Forest product manufacturer SAN Group is suing the City of Port Alberni, B.C., over statements from the city's mayor and chief administrative officer made in response to allegations of mistreatment at one of the company's work sites in early July. 

A notice of civil claim filed earlier this week says comments Mayor Sharie Minions made to local news outlets — using terms like "incredibly disturbing," "disgusted by workers' treatment" and "the community won't tolerate the mistreatment of workers" — damaged the company's reputation and put the business's supply and demand at risk. 

"None of the mayor's meanings are true or close to true," the notice says. 

"They were expressed maliciously knowing they were false, or reckless as to whether they are true or false, made without investigation or even minimal inquiry." 

The claim also mentions a news release issued by the city's CAO that referred to the workers' "mistreatment." Although the release didn't name SAN Group, the notice says the company was inferred because of news stories that had recently been published outlining the allegations. 

The City of Port Alberni has yet to file a response. The city says it has no comment on the lawsuit at this time. 

'Absolutely disgusting'

The notice of claim says the allegations included accusing the company of housing 16 male workers from Vietnam in a small trailer on mill property with no running water. The company alleges Mayor Sharie Minions told local news outlet Nanaimo News Now, "I think this is absolutely disgusting, and this is not how you treat people." 

According to the court document, the mayor also told local news outlets the city had received several complaints and had reported them to RCMP and WorkSafeBC.

The company denies the allegations, claiming instead that some of its 30 temporary foreign workers from Vietnam were housed in a modular home and several ECOChalets (mini homes) the company had built to use when constructing its facilities four years ago. 

"The plaintiffs were not required to provide accommodation for the temporary foreign workers due to the rate of pay they were paid, and accommodation was not part of the employment contract," the notice of civil claim says.  

"But the plaintiffs made accommodation available to some of the temporary workers because of a lack of rental accommodation in Port Alberni."

The lawsuit says the workers were issued two-year visas that limited their employment to the company "unless the employees could prove deplorable treatment.

"The workers' complaints were self-serving attempts to escape federal criteria, unrelated to the high quality of treatment by the plaintiffs," the notice says. 

Supply, demand at risk

The notice says that, as a result of the libel and slander, its supply of fibre is at risk because the First Nations that supply it are reconsidering their contractual obligations in light of the allegations.

Similarly, the court document says demand for its products, which comes mostly from the European Union, has been endangered because the city's comments put its environmental certification at risk. 

Earlier last month, the company filed another notice of civil claim against the city for conducting an alleged unauthorized and "clandestine" search of the premises on the night of July 4. 

The search included RCMP as well as personnel from the local fire department.

"In a small town such as Port Alberni, the mustering of substantial numbers of public servants to perform a secret search on a clandestine basis through the night foreseeably attracted substantial attention and because the source of rumours as to the justification for the search, leading to widespread speculation that has been highly damaging to the plaintiff's business and reputation," reads the notice.