Court denies bid to sue ECBC

SYDNEY — A former independent Cape Breton coal hauler has been denied a bid to sue Enterprise Cape Breton Corp.

Leslie Thompson of Glace Bay had been hauling coal to residential customers since 2000 and became the largest independent hauler with 156 customers.

In 2008, he was advised by the corporation he would no longer have access to its coal yard after an internal investigation concluded that Thompson was skimming coal from his deliveries.

Thompson claimed the decision resulted in the loss of his business and sued the corporation, alleging intentional interference with contractual relations.

In a recently released Supreme Court decision, Justice Robin Gogan dismissed the claim ruling it did not have any chance of real success.

ECBC is the successor body to the Cape Breton Development Corp. or Devco which assumed control of the island’s coal fields from the Dominion Steel and Coal Company. Coal mining on the island was halted in 2001.

There was a long-standing practice under Dominion Steel and Coal, and adopted by Devco, to sell subsidized coal to residential users. Customers could haul the coal themselves or hire someone for delivery.

“What is required is for Thompson to establish that Devco acted unlawfully towards its customers in a way that constitutes an actionable wrong and in doing so, Devco intended to cause economic harm to Thompson,” said Gogan, adding that Thompson needed to prove that Devco committed the lawful act to cause him financial loss.

“I then ask myself on the facts and law whether the claim has any real chance of success. The burden is on Thompson. In my view, there is no real chance that Thompson can be successful,” concluded Gogan.

She said Thompson failed to prove that Devco acted unlawfully in any way towards its customers and in the absence of an unlawful act, the claim will not be successful.

Thompson was not an employee, agent or under contract with Devco to haul coal and as noted in the court decision, he had no independent right of access to the coal yard.

Thompson had argued that the company did not prove its claim that he was skimming coal and was not justified to refuse him entry to the coal yard.

The court ruled that Devco did not need to justify its decision to restrict access.

Thompson denied skimming coal and said that none of his customers ever complained of receiving short loads. He said Devco’s actions resulted in his customers hiring other haulers.

“There is no evidence of any impact on Thompson’s customers. It is not disputed that those customers continued to be eligible for subsidized Devco coal. The only impact in evidence is that eligible customers could no longer employ Thompson to deliver their coal,” said Gogan.