A provincial court judge has dismissed a Prince George woman's claim she was the victim of discrimination by the city when it ordered her to remove steel storage containers from her property.
Colleen Geisser had filed the action in small claims court, seeking $25,000 in damages, after a previous attempt, filed in B.C. Supreme Court, to claim $1 million from the city over the dispute was thrown out.
While Geisser alleged discrimination in her most recent action, judge Judith Doulis noted she did not provide the basis for the allegation in her claim. Moreover, Doulis said allegations of discrimination are more properly heard before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
In 2010, Geisser was ordered to remove the containers from her 3500-block Pierreroy Road property because the site was not zoned for the use. The city had issued the order in response to a complaint from another party that she intended to use the property for commercial storage.
Doulis also found Geisser was simply attempting to retry the matter in small claims court and agreed with the city's position that it was an abuse of process and vexatious litigation "overlying a cause of action falling outside this court's jurisdiction."
The judgment was issued in early May.
