So rather then include a crap load of legal documents and background information, i'll sum this up as best i can!
One year ago, i decided to make a human rights claim against a previous employer ( i live in BC, Canada FYI ). I experienced discrimination under family status of the Canadian human rights code. After a year of back and forth documents, the tribunal decided to dismiss my complaint. They said it was due to the fact that they lacked the resources to deal with my complaint and said the incidences were isolated. Extremely weak if you ask me..I never planned on suing the company, i just wanted apology letters for my ex-employers and a human resources system put in place for the company.
In Canada, the human rights tribunal acts as a mediator to resolve a dispute. The use of a lawyer is completely optional and as stated on the BC human right coalition website, it is up to the respondents (the company in question) to pay for their own legal fees.
I represented myself and now that the complaint was dismissed, I am being personally sued in a small claims court by my ex-employers for the legal fees incurred during this dispute. And all i am going to say is that it is much more then I can afford.
Keep in mind, we never actually went to court and all the ex-employers lawyer did was type up a couple of dispute documents.
My question is, can they really sue me for legal costs EVEN if this was a Human Rights Claim that was ultimately dismissed before it even went to court?
I plan on getting legal advice this week, but does anyone have any suggestions? or experiences they can share??
Update:REVISED QUESTION- I know you can sue anybody for just about anything so i am wondering if there is a way out?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
If you're being sued, you really should be consulting your own lawyer. Nobody here can give you legal advice.
However, what you've described is a very strange circumstance, and my *guess* would be that the employer is no longer represented. I've heard plenty of defendant clients say "I want to sue him for my legal fees", but that's not generally an option. Many processes have an inherent costs jurisdiction - meaning that, if I sue you in Court, and you win, you are *automatically* entitled to ask the Court for costs. You'll never get 100%, but usually some contribution. You can't go and start a separate action to recover the rest.
However, most human rights processes in Canada don't have such a jurisdiction, or have very limited costs jurisdictions. I've never heard an argument that this gives the Court jurisdiction to award damages in respect of costs incurred, and I have a hard time imagining a scenario where an ex-employer could even make out a cause of action against an employee for commencing a human rights process.
(There are exceptions: Namely, if your insurance company refuses to defend a covered claim, and you incur your own legal expenses, you might sue your insurance company for your costs...but that's an action in breach of contract. Or an action for malicious prosecution often involves seeking legal fees associated with the criminal proceeding. But, outside of such exceptions, suing for the legal fees you incurred in another legal proceeding is not really an option.)