A judge has dismissed a case a former employee brought against a Prince George-based air service and has ordered him to pay more than $3,500 after finding he "purposely, deliberately and intentionally" delayed the proceedings.
In issuing her decision, Provincial Court Judge Judith Doulis said she was not "prepared to say Brooklyn Anderson's case is devoid of merit" but found his continued failures to pay a deposit to the court "constitutes blameworthy conduct."
At issue is a now-four-year-long dispute between Anderson and Northern Thunderbird Air Inc. over who owed who and how much.
In October 2016, Anderson began working for NT Air after he signed a two-year training bond agreement - in which NT Air agreed to train Anderson to fly its Beechcraft 1900 - but after one year he then left the company for a higher-paying job.
The dispute was initially taken to the Civil Resolution Tribunal, which concluded Anderson was liable for a balance owing under the bond of $3,500 and denied his counterclaim for alleged unpaid wages and reimbursement for the sums he had already repaid.
In turn, Anderson filed a notice of objection, rendering the CRT decision unenforceable until a hearing was conducted in provincial court. That occurred in January 2019 and in March 2019, NT Air applied for an order that Anderson pay a deposit of $3,500 into the court. It was served to Anderson by registered mail a week later. By then he was living in the Lower Mainland.
Doulis went on to outline a series of delays and failures by Anderson to comply with court orders and requests and concluded his actions were willful and not the result of inadvertence or oversight.
Doulis noted, in part, that Anderson simply left unopened the package of documents NT Air initially sent and commented that it "does not even rise to the level of a 'feeble explanation.'"
Anderson had claimed he was preoccupied with moving to a different home but later admitted he did not take possession until August 2020 - nearly 1 1/2 years after he received the documents - and even then, he had a two-year forwarding service with Canada Post.
Anderson also claimed he could not pay the deposit because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but that did not come into play until a year after NT Air had initiated its proceedings.
"In my view, Brooklyn Anderson has conducted himself in such a manner as to purposefully, deliberately and intentionally delay these proceedings," Doulis concluded. "Given almost three years have passed since NT Air filed its Notice of Civil Resolution Claim with this Court, he has largely succeeded in that goal. Accordingly, I find Brooklyn Anderson’s conduct in failing to pay the deposit, or any portion thereof, constitutes blameworthy conduct."
Doulis found NT Air is entitled to the $3,500 for the unpaid portion of the bond plus interest, as well as $172 in fees paid to the CRT and $132 in filing and service fees for the provincial court proceedings.
If Anderson does not pay the full amount owing, Doulis said the matter will be brought back before her on February 23. And if Anderson does not appear without lawful excuse, "NT Air is at liberty to request a warrant for his arrest."
