The owners of a local automobile dealership fired its former principal because he launched a campaign to discredit the B.C. Motor Vehicle Sales Authority after the agency found he had engaged in deceptive practices, according to a court filing.
In a response to a notice of claim from Brent Marshall, they say he was dismissed from his position at Northland Chrysler Jeep Dodge on Sept. 26, 2014, about a week after he sent a lengthy email to people in the automobile industry claiming, in part, that he was "caught in the middle of what appears to be a personal vendetta with the manager of compliance."
Marshall followed that up a few days later with another email with the subject line of "over 100,000 copies of this, inserted in every home and mailbox...could go to 500,000 easily." Attached was a mock up of a cover of a magazine he claimed to own featuring a picture of the MVSA's compliance manager and the headline "how the MVSA and this man are wasting millions."
None of Marshall's superiors approved the emails which were designed "to humiliate and threaten the MVSA, causing further harm to the reputation and business interests of AutoCanada Inc., AutoCanada Northtown and Northland."
Marshall's employment with the defendants was consequently terminated with "just cause."
In the months that followed, Marshall filed a complaint under the Employment Standards Act claiming $521,731 in unpaid wages. The complaint was later withdrawn following unsuccessful mediation.
The MVSA eventually fined Northland $44,000 and Marshall $3,550 in August 2015. Northland also paid $100,000 to MVSA for the costs related to the case.
In September, Marshall filed a lawsuit against his ex-employers, alleging they failed to properly act on his behalf during the conflict with the MVSA. Their response to the claim was filed Dec. 1 in B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George.
In his claim Marshall sets out a complex web of allegations involving MVSA inspectors he said were seeking to become compliance officers at Northland and at an AutoCanada dealership in Victoria while the two were under investigation.
Marshall claimed that because of the way the situations were handled, his ability to enter into voluntary undertakings to resolve the matter prior to a hearing were undermined.
The defendants deny the allegations.
None of the allegations have yet been tested in court.
The full response can be found with this story as posted at www.pgcitizen.ca.
