VANCOUVER -- B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a man to pay his ex-girlfriend nearly $2,500 in a dispute that involved a vacation gone wrong and a car held as “collateral.”
The tribunal heard that Sherry Bereziak and Todd Kennedy met and started dating in Oct. 2019. Bereziak had previously planned an “international vacation,” according to the tribunal documents, and added Kennedy to the trip with the understanding he would pay her back.
But when the pair went on vacation together, their relationship “deteriorated significantly,” according to the decision.
“Each blames the other for the tumultuous vacation, where they did not spend the last few days together and returned separately,” according to the decision.
To prove that Kennedy owed her for the vacation, Bereziak submitted texts to the tribunal showing that Kennedy had offered to pay her back. She also claimed that Kennedy had left his car in her underground parking garage as “collateral for the vacation payment.”
For his part, Kennedy claimed Bereziak “took his keys and kept the vehicle against his wishes.”
Chad McCarthy, the tribunal member who heard the dispute, wrote that he found no direct evidence that the car was left as collateral.
“I find it more likely that Mr. Kennedy left his vehicle in the garage because he and Ms. Bereziak drove her vehicle to the airport and left it there during their vacation,” McCarthy wrote.
In the end, McCarthy ruled that Kennedy must pay Bereziak $2,465.47 for his portion of the vacation, interest, Civil Resolution Tribunal fees and dispute-related costs.
