The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal posted an interesting decision involving a dispute between a customer and an employee after an allegedly tense situation at a car dealership.
According to the decision, the customer, M.C., visited the service department of the car dealership.
M.C. claimed that upon entering, M.M., the employee, ignored him and treated him dismissively. M.C. added that M.M.’s behaviour “caused him to feel insignificant and humiliated.” M.C. claimed damages of $1,260 for out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Meanwhile, M.M. claimed that it was actually M.C. who was rude and disrespectful and that his claims were unreasonable and should be dismissed.
- You might also like:
- B.C. man loses fight with strata over parking stall he had for years
- Four Metro Vancouver cities top Canada's priciest rental markets
- BC strata owner loses fight for parking spots they used for decades
The incident at the B.C. car dealership’s service centre occurred in June 2024.
M.M. admitted that at one point, he said, “I am not here to f***ing argue with you.”
No context was included in the decision about what led up to that.
While he acknowledged his behaviour might’ve been flawed in that instance, he said it didn’t warrant the damages ($1,260) M.C. was claiming.
The tribunal dismissed M.C.’s claims for several reasons.
For one, the tribunal pointed out that M.M. was just an employee, adding, “Corporations’ employees acting in the course of their employment are not personally liable unless they have committed a wrongful act independent of that of the corporation.”
The tribunal said that for M.C.’s claim to succeed, he would have had to show several things. He had to show that M.M.’s conduct was “flagrant and extreme,” that it was plainly calculated to produce harm, and that it resulted in a visible and provable illness.
According to the decision, the tribunal also considered whether or not M.C. alleged that M.M. assaulted him.
“At common law, assault is about threats of imminent harm or offensive contact (see: Johal v. Mangat, 2020 BCSC 1148),” the tribunal said, adding that nothing that M.M. did, including the swearing that he admitted to, constituted assault.
M.C. walked away without any damages or compensation for his experience at the car dealership.