Dismissed: Judge deems lawsuit against Mayor over HootSuite favouritism "without foundation"

The lawsuit brought against Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson by a rival party alleging favouritism towards social media megaplayer HootSuite has been dismissed, and the judge did not mince words about the suit’s lack of merit.

Kevin Quinlan, the Mayor’s Director of Policy and Communications live-tweeted the judge’s ruling Monday morning:

Judge dismisses court case from Cedar Party against Mayor over hootsuite. Calls it abuse of court’s process + without foundation #vanpoli

— Kevin Quinlan (@KQ_VanCity) July 21, 2014

“this case is an abuse of the Court’s process on the basis it is without foundation.” Judge ruling on case against Mayor #vanpoli

— Kevin Quinlan (@KQ_VanCity) July 21, 2014

Judge ruling on Cedar party lawsuit against Mayor: the case “can serve no useful purpose.” awards costs to the Mayor #vanpoli

— Kevin Quinlan (@KQ_VanCity) July 21, 2014

“the evidence filed by the respondent supports a conclusion that the City recovered fair market value” #MayorGregor #Hootsuite #vanpoli

— Kevin Quinlan (@KQ_VanCity) July 21, 2014

The lawsuit filed against Robertson by Glenn Chernan of the Cedar Party alleged that the City of Vancouver gave a sweetheart deal to HootSuite. In 2013, the popular social media company relocated to a City-owned building at 5 East 8th Avenue, and Chernen speculates an alleged conflict of interest was involved given HootSuite’s “assistance” to run Vision Vancouver’s 2011 election campaign.

It was a remark made by Quinlan that provided Chernen’s only kernel of support; the suit “cited a blog interview Quinlan gave to a website associated to HootSuite’s owner,” according to The Province. In that interview Quinlan said the HootSuite team invited the Robertson campaign to hold a “town hall” forum in their office.

Earlier this year, in his response to the filing, Robertson said the suit was full of false statements, and derided the case’s “obvious lack of legal merit.” In May, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson heard arguments from both sides to determine if the case could proceed, but opted to reserve judgment for a later date.

While the case was tossed out and considered legally baseless, the judge did note that it did not appear the suit was filed with malice, as noted by Vancouver Metro journalist Emily Jackson in her live-tweets:

Judge rules case not malicious as Hootsuite lease “somewhat shrouded in secrecy until a point after which the petition was filed.” #vanpoli

— emily jackson (@theemilyjackson) July 21, 2014

.@MayorGregor awarded scale B costs (but not special costs) in Hootsuite lawsuit. #vanpoli

— emily jackson (@theemilyjackson) July 21, 2014

Robertson and Chernen have yet to comment publicly on the dismissal.

Featured image: Nima Zadrafi / The Glass Eye