Lewd gestures, 'malicious lies' and a bag of dog feces in a car among allegations in B.C. neighbours' dispute
A dispute among neighbours that devolved into daily drive-by insults and accusations that a bag of dog feces was deliberately left in one person's car was adjudicated by B.C.'s small claims tribunal this week.
The conflict among residents of a mobile home park in Kelowna dates back to June of last year, according to the decision posted online Tuesday.
Shelly Stefanishion filed a claim seeking $5,000 in damages. Her neighbours, Bradley Baldwin and Donna Lee Power, filed a claim for the same amount – the maximum allowed by B.C.'s Civil Resolution Tribunal. Both sides were alleging nuisance.
"A nuisance occurs when one person substantially and unreasonably interferes with another person’s quiet use and enjoyment of their land," the decision said.
The origin of the antipathy, it noted, may have been related to a dispute over a dog. But tribunal member Eric Regehr declined to weigh in on the initial confrontation, instead turning his attention to what happened after the relationship soured.
DOG FECES AND DAILY INSULTS
First, the tribunal addressed the matter of the bag of dog feces. In support of her claim that her neighbours had placed it in her car the day after an altercation, she submitted a photo. Baldwin and Power countered by saying that this was not proof they were to blame, saying someone else had left it.
Regehr agreed this was possible.
"There is no direct evidence that it was the respondents who put the dog feces in her car," he wrote. "I find that she has not proven that the respondents put the dog feces in her car."
Stefanishion also said the couple began yelling at her every time they passed her house, which the tribunal pointed out the pair would have done every time they entered or exited the complex. In support of that claim, Stefanishion produced a log she'd kept of each interaction.
"The log indicates that the respondents usually called her a liar, but there are also entries describing lewd insults and gestures," the decision says.
Additionally, a Telus worker who was at Stephanishion's home during one of the instances of these interactions provided a statement in which he described the couple's yelling as "very intimidating."
In response, Bradley and Power admitted to calling Stephansion a liar in order to "shame her," but also said that this was OK because it was true.
The tribunal was not persuaded.
"Given that the respondents admitted to wanting to shame Ms. Stefanishion and given the log’s likely accuracy, I find that the respondents likely also directed offensive gestures and lewd insults at Ms. Stefanishion. Again, they do not directly dispute this. Ultimately, it does not matter exactly how many times the respondents insulted Ms. Stefanishion. I find that the respondents persistently insulted Ms. Stefanishion while she was at home."
Because of this, Regehr said Stefanishion's allegation of nuisance was founded, on a balance of probabilities, and awarded her $500.
"I find that a reasonable person would consider the respondents’ persistent insults and lewd gestures over many weeks to substantially interfere with their use and enjoyment their home," the decision said.
'PERSISTENT CAMPAIGN' OF 'MALICIOUS LIES'
In their claim, Bradley and Powers said their neighbour was actively trying to recruit other people in the park to side with her in the ongoing dispute in a "persistent campaign" of "malicious lies" that alienated them from other residents. They also said Stephanishion would call them "losers" and make "lewd gestures" when they passed her home.
"It is undisputed that none of these alleged incidents occurred on the respondents’ property, although the respondents say that her conduct led them to feel 'trapped in their home,'" Regehr said.
However, he did not find that any of this impacted the couple's "quiet use" or "enjoyment" of their home. He also found that Stephanishion's yelling was likely a response to the pair's insults.
Their claim was dismissed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.