One of nine small claims Jessica Serenity Simpson has lodged against Simpson’s Langley strata corporation has been dismissed by the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT).
Previously described by one B.C. Supreme Court justice as a “prolific litigant,” Simpson brought a $5,000 claim against the strata for an alleged “unacceptable risk” from a non-functioning fire alarm, according to a CRT ruling March 26.
Simpson alleged the strata failed to maintain its fire alarm system, leaving Simpson without a functioning in-unit alarm for over two years.
Simpson brought the claim after demanding the strata install a strobe-and-horn alarm, in August 2020, due to a hearing impairment.
The special alarm was installed and over two years passed. However, Simpson stated in the tribunal claim, lodged December 2022, that the alarm was no longer working. A fire protection company did find the fire alarm system’s circuit setting was incompatible with a strobe alarm and so the strata fixed the circuitry in 2023.
Coincidently, Simpson was found guilty of false alarm of fire last December in Surrey Provincial Court. Simpson was issued an 18-month probation order and a suspended sentence for the Feb. 22, 2022 incident, online court records show.
The tribunal dismissed Simpson’s compensation claim because, as noted by the strata’s lawyer, “a person is not entitled to compensation for an increased risk of something bad happening if that risk never materializes.”
The strata also asked the tribunal to order Simpson pay its legal fees, relying on Simpson’s “litigation history.”
The strata noted Simpson started seven CRT disputes against it since December 2022, five of which have been withdrawn. That is in addition to prior claims.
In 2022, the tribunal dismissed another $5,000 claim. According to that ruling, Simpson alleged “the strata failed to retain her fob records, which prevented her from auditing the performance of a security firm she hired to patrol her strata lot, storage unit, and parking space while she was away.”
“I agree with the strata that Ms. Simpson appears quick to start legal proceedings and that some of the issues she raised likely did not justify CRT involvement,” wrote tribunal member Eric Regehr in this latest ruling.
However, Regehr stated he was not convinced Simpson’s past CRT disputes against the strata show a pattern of vexatious or reprehensible behaviour.
Regehr also noted he would not factor in other legal proceedings Simpson was a party to, and that were cited by the strata lawyer.
Those proceedings included a 2019 human rights complaint against aestheticians who refused to wax Simpson; a defamation lawsuit against Rebel News after the right-wing outlet reported on Simpson's bid to launch a top-optional youth LGBTQ2S+ swim session in the Township of Langley; and lawsuits against Fraser Health Authority, the Attorney General of Canada, Township of Langley and Langley RCMP, among others.
Ultimately, Regehr ruled that Simpson’s litigation history did not present an “exceptional circumstance” that is required to move the tribunal to issue costs against Simpson and in favour of the strata.
“I acknowledge that the strata council member who represented the strata has had to spend considerable time dealing with Ms. Simpson’s various CRT disputes. I am sure this was stressful and time-consuming.
“I also acknowledge that the other owners have paid considerable legal fees to defend claims that were either abandoned or dismissed. Still, I am not convinced that this is an extraordinary circumstance that justifies departing from the usual rule that one party will not have to pay another party’s legal fees.”
