A Quesnel man is suing West Fraser Ltd. for alleged breach of contract after a conflict with his ex-wife led to his dismissal from the company.
For eight years, Randall Couture was an assistant foreman at West Fraser's Quesnel Plywood plant. His ex-wife, meanwhile, operated a janitorial service and one of her clients was the plant.
They had married in February 2013 but by May 2014 they had separated with the relationship ending permanently by September 2014 amid acrimony.
In November 2014, she filed a complaint with the RCMP claiming Couture had stolen some company property. However, a subsequent police investigation did not uncover any such property and the file was eventually closed.
According to a notice of civil claim filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Quesnel, Couture confronted his ex the next day, saying she had harassed him by filing the complaint with the RCMP. In turn, she filed a complaint with West Fraser, saying he had harassed her.
In response, two West Fraser managers interviewed Couture twice over two successive days before suspending him pending completion of the investigation.
Four days later, on Nov. 20, 2014, Couture was fired, with management concluding the complaint of bullying and harassment had been established.
Couture, who now works as a shelf stocker at considerably lower pay, is suing West Fraser for damages, claiming in part that management's investigation was biased and that it lacked an established procedure for the investigation of complaints.
West Fraser has not yet filed a response and the allegations have not yet been tested in court.
