A B.C. woman is suing her landlord and the bank he works for, alleging he set up an auto-debit for bill payments on her account without her approval.
Jenni-Laura Badicu (also known as Jenni-Laura Lewis) alleged in a Jan. 8 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim that she and her spouse entered into a tenancy agreement with Aly Kassam in May 2022.
The claim said Kassam is a Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) mortgage specialist.
Badicu alleged Kassam used his position as a bank employee to access her account information to set up automatic withdrawals with BC Hydro from her account.
She asserts the account is subject to the bank's terms and conditions that protect her privacy.
Badicu said the withdrawals totalled more than $376 between July and October 2022.
It was in October of that year that she noticed the withdrawals and asked the bank to stop payment. She was charged $25, money she claims TD has yet to repay.
“Access by Kassam and TD Bank both violated the plaintiff’s expectation of and actual privacy,” the claim said.
The alleged breach led her and her family to move to another house and bank at a cost of about $5,000.
Badicu further said the alleged situation caused her to terminate a long-standing relationship with TD and to place blocks on credit cards.
“The plaintiff has suffered a significant loss of trust in financial institutions,” state the court documents.
She claims the bank owed her a duty of care and that it is vicariously liable for the actions of its employee.
“TD Bank failed or neglected to properly supervise or enforce its own privacy policies and practices,” the claim said.
Badicu is claiming various damages.
TD spokesman Mick Ramos said the bank cannot comment on the matter as it is before the courts.
Glacier Media reached out to Kassam via the TD online query system, email, phone and text but received no response.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
