SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
REBECCA MUNROE
Plaintiff
-and-
THE SALVATION ARMY and THE GOVERNING COUNIL OF THE SALVATION ARMY IN CANADA and CARSON DURDLE and KLAUS DIMYTRUK and DOUGLAS CARRINGTON and RAY MOULTON and BRIAN PEDDLE and SUSAN VAN DUINEN and CAROLYN HOWELLS and KATHY MACSWEEN and HEIDI BURKE and JOANNA MARTINS and MAREK REDKA
Defendants
BEFORE: F.L. Myers J.
READ: November 28, 2015
endorsement
1This motion was referred to me by the registrar’s office pursuant to rule 2.1.01(7) following receipt of a written request of counsel for the defendants under rule 2.1.01(6).
2In her statement of claim, the plaintiff claims $10 million for wrongful dismissal. She claims that she was fired for making complaints after realizing that she had been used by superiors to conduct financial transactions that she says were fraudulent.
3While the statement of claim is written by a layperson, it states clear causes of action against at least some of the defendants. While the story told by the plaintiff may seem outrageous at first blush, that does not make it untrue, frivolous, or vexatious. I see no reason why motions under rules 20 or 21 cannot be brought in the ordinary course. There is no indication on the face of the statement of claim that allowing the normal motion process to proceed involves a risk of abuse. Scaduto v. The Law Society of Upper Canada, 2015 ONCA 733, at paras. 8 and 9.
4I therefore decline to direct the registrar to issue notice under Rule 2.1 at this time. Any judge who hears this matter remains free to refer it to the registrar under Rule 2.1 if he or she sees fit to do so in the ordinary course.
________________________________ F.L. Myers J.
Date: December 1, 2015