The defendant, a former employee of the plaintiff geoscientific company, brought a motion to strike the statement of claim without leave to amend.
The plaintiff had sued the defendant for communicating with the Professional Geoscientists Association of Ontario, which led to a regulatory investigation into the company.
The court found that the defendant's communications with the quasi-judicial regulatory body were protected by absolute privilege, and that the statement of claim disclosed no reasonable cause of action to the extent it relied on those communications.
The court further found the action constituted an abuse of process, as the plaintiff sought to weaponize legally protected communications with a regulator.
The statement of claim was struck in its entirety without leave to amend, and costs of $7,916.78 were awarded to the defendant.