Mushroom thief lands in soup as court ruling ends three-year battle
OTTAWA — After a whirlwind case that featured lies, threats, defamation allegations and nighttime security footage, a Canadian court has proven this week that the law will catch up to you if you steal too many mushrooms. Even if you feel really bad about it.
In the culmination of a three-year-long civil suit, British Columbia’s Superior Court ordered a convicted thief to pay tens of thousands in damages to a mushroom company — and dismissed the culprit’s claims that he was “defamed” and “suffered emotional distress” after being rightly accused of stealing.
Defendant Zhi Ping Guo was a Champ’s Mushrooms customer. According to his court testimony, he “became upset” around the fall of 2013 after not being supplied the mushrooms he wanted, which are described in Justice John Harvey’s court decision as low-quality stock. So he “began simply taking large amounts of various mushrooms” from the company’s Langley warehouse, then mis-reporting what he had taken.
That November, manager Tri Quach testified that he discovered inventory shortages over the past couple of months, then reviewed nighttime security footage that showed Guo “helping himself to pallets of mushrooms” and loading them into a van. Less than a week later, Quach caught him red-handed and called the police. Guo admitted to the theft and offered to pay money back, but only because “there was nobody around,” “it was dark outside” and “he was afraid,” according to his testimony.
Email exchanges cited in the decision show the two men arguing in the weeks that followed. Quach said he had given video evidence to the police. Despite having been caught, Guo replied, “I don’t think I stole your mushrooms.”
Quach fired back suggesting he get a lawyer. “I am sure that it won’t be long before the police come to arrest you in front of all your family and neighbours,” he wrote. In a subsequent email, he added, “I’m coming after everything you own, your house, your car, your van, anything you have. I will make your life miserable that your wife will leave you because you won’t have a penny left in your name.”
Criminal proceedings ensued, with Guo paying $7,500 restitution after pleading guilty in July 2014 to a few weeks’ worth of mushroom theft. Meanwhile, Champ’s Mushrooms filed a lawsuit in January 2014 asking for $50,000, the total value of mushrooms they alleged Guo stole over a longer period of time.
In his defence, Guo alleged “defamation,” without providing details. The judge inferred that this had to do with Quach informing the other mushroom farms, and dismissed the claim because the farms, by all indications, were told a true story. Guo also claimed he suffered “emotional harm,” “loss of sleep” and “loss of memory ability” because of Quach’s emails. No details were offered in his testimony, though, other than “passing reference to nightmares.” So that claim, too, was dismissed.
Ultimately, Champ’s was awarded 80 per cent of what it asked for — because of quibbles over Quach’s “careless” mushroom pricing — minus the amount Guo already paid during criminal proceedings. Unless the case goes to an appeal court, Guo will have to cough up nearly $30,000.