Asbestos removers’ lawsuit dismissed

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has thrown out a lawsuit by an asbestos-removal company against WorkSafe B.C., labelling the suit “arrant nonsense.”

It’s the fourth such lawsuit against WorkSafe B.C. launched by Mike Singh, who operates Seattle Environmental Consulting Ltd., and his son Shawn Singh, who heads up ESS Environmental Ltd. All have been dismissed because the suits have been found to be without merit and are an abuse of process, according to the recently released ruling.

The Singhs have launched other complaints — all of which have failed — including to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, arguing that WorkSafe B.C. has maliciously singled them out for penalties for contraventions of asbestos removal in houses that are to be demolished. At times, the Singhs have said they have been discriminated against because they are Indo-Canadian.

“The ill-advised and unmeritorious litigation campaign that these plaintiffs have been waging, and continue to wage, against the Workers’ Compensation Board and its various representatives should come to an immediate end,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nigel P. Kent said in his 12-page ruling.

Between 2007 and 2012, WorkSafe B.C. issued 237 as best osviolation notices to the two men and companies they controlled, and imposed fines in excess of $200,000. Since then, more violation notices and additional fines have been issued, bringing the total fines to more than $500,000.

In the latest suit, the Singhs sued not only the WorkSafe B.C. board but its lawyers, its president and seven of its directors.