A forest company is suing the City of Port Alberni after a “clandestine” overnight search of its manufacturing plant last month, which the company said has harmed its reputation.
The search relates to false claims that San Group, which operates lumber mills and a large value-added manufacturing facility in Port Alberni, was mistreating temporary foreign workers through substandard accommodation, the company says.
While the almost seven-hour search of the firm’s waterfront facility was underway on July 4-5, the access road to the plant was blocked by two fire trucks and at least three police cruisers, says a notice of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver this week.
“In a small town such as Port Alberni, B.C., the mustering of substantial numbers of public servants to perform a secret search on a clandestine basis through the night foreseeably attracted substantial attention and became the source of rumours as to the justification for the search, leading to widespread speculation that has been highly damaging to the plaintiffs’ business and reputation,” the notice of claim says.
It says the search happened “without prior judicial authorization” and without notice or permission of the company. The search was conducted with advance knowledge of the city, the mayor and the chief administrative officer, it says.
Aside from a declaration that the search was illegal, the San Group is seeking general damages as well as special, aggravated and punitive damages. Amounts were not specified.
It wants an injunction barring the city from another search and restraining it from using any information found during the search, and is requesting a court order that the city provide copies of all records obtained during the search.
The San Group also wants the city to be required to post in a prominent position at Port Alberni city hall, the fire hall and in the RCMP detachment an acknowledgement that the search was illegal and breached the Charter.
The company’s goal is to see its name cleared, Bob Bortolin, vice-president of business development, said Thursday from Vancouver.
The false allegations have caused problems for the Langley-based company in purchasing raw materials and in sales, which are international, Bortolin said.
Sara Darling, deputy director of corporate services for the City of Port Alberni, said the city is not commenting on the lawsuit. A statement of defence has not yet been filed.
Bortolin told the Times Colonist last month that allegations the company had provided housing for foreign workers that was in poor condition and lacked water were untrue.
He said 16 workers from Vietnam were employed by San Group, but their contract did not include company-provided accommodation. Due to the tight housing market, however, San Group ended up providing a five-bedroom trailer with room for 10 workers in a location about 15 kilometres outside the city.
He noted that Service Canada did not require the company to provide housing for the workers given the wages they received.
Workers were paid $26.50 to $30 an hour depending on their skill set, and anyone working overtime was paid at time-and-a-half, Bortolin said.
Some, but not all, of the workers had lived in the San-provided housing for up to two years, he said. Others lived elsewhere.
Bortolin said the facility was not being properly maintained by some of the occupants.
With respect to the allegation that the housing was without running water, Bortolin estimated there were two days during winter when the waterline froze after one worker turned off a dripping tap, not realizing the line should have been kept open.
Sinks and toilets all worked and the company was providing 20-litre jugs of potable water, he said.
Among the group of workers from Vietnam, a number are still working for San Group, said Bortolin, adding the company is in talks with federal officials.
The City of Port Alberni issued a statement in early July saying it was aware of a complaint involving temporary foreign workers that had raised questions about their accommodations.
It said local authorities had been notified and that relevant provincial and federal authorities would address the situation.
The city confirmed that the visit to the plant was connected to a 2022 letter the company had received saying no structures on the property should be used for sleeping.
San’s notice of claim said the city breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and cited trespass, invasion of privacy, abuse of process and negligence arising from the search.
The remanufacturing plant on Nuupts’ Ikapis Way employs about 95 workers in the community of slightly more than 18,000.
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