Advocate or Accomplice?
Where is the line drawn?
According to the BC Law Society there is no line so long as a lawyer is following instructions they remain just an advocate. You just need a law degree and a client and you get a get out jail free card. That’s not entirely true, they haven’t finished investigating yet but they have hinted that’s their position.
The law states anyone who aids and abets a person in committing an offence becomes a party to said offence.
Can a lawyer be an accomplice to a statutory illegal retaliatory termination? You’re probably thinking how is that possible when it’s the employer who terminates its employees not the lawyers?
This is the tale of one lawyer Dean Crawford K.C from Pulver Crawford Munroe LLP, representing Dexterra Group Inc.
I worked for Dexterra, known at the time as Horizon North, at its Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat, BC.
I was a member of a really bad union, Unite Here Local 40 and when I say bad I mean complete garbage. I’ll write about them another day.
Under BC Labour Relations Code no member can be terminated without just cause.
I was fired on Sept 23, 2020 but being a union member Dexterra’s next obstacle was finalizing the termination by getting the union to agree to it.
Fast forward to mid Feb when Crawford came into the picture. Suddenly the union cancelled arbitration and switched to mediation.
Crawford, at the time, had been a labour lawyer for over two decades, he has been recognized many times over the years as the best of the best so he knows his stuff. See Dean Crawford’s bio.
The evening before mediation I was forwarded an email that Crawford sent my union rep, Paul Voykin.
Please see attached the Employer’s Particulars. Our opening statement tomorrow morning will be based upon this document.
Employer’s Particulars – a few samples shortened for space
Ms. Pereira sent an email to several Company and Union officials, accusing employees of engaging in “workplace mobbing” against her and threatened a WorkSafe complaint if her complaint was not investigated.
Ms. Pereira sent an email to Jana Lewis accusing LM of “doing everything she can to sabotage my career at Crossroads by slandering my professional reputation with lies, exaggerations and innuendos” and characterized LM’s behaviour as “malicious”.
Ms. Pereira send an email to Jeff Litchfield at the Company in which she accused Andrew Desilets of “saying lies about me” when engaging with her over her workplace concerns
Ms. Pereira emailed the Company and repeated her allegations that she was being “mobbed” by her co-workers and “retaliated against” by the Company.
I text Voykin after reading the particulars.
It's absolutely ridiculous that they are relying on emails of me complaining that I was being mobbed. Do they not know that is a prohibited action through WCB they are admitting to firing me for complaining of bullying.
I don’t think you need a law degree to understand that the employer’s particulars were an admission to an illegal retaliatory termination under the Workers Compensation Act which forbids employers from taking adverse action against an employee for reporting bullying and harassment. Section 47.
It’s also a crime under Section 425.1 of the Criminal Code to terminate an employee for reporting an employer to WorkSafe or to stop an employee from reporting - and threatened a WorkSafe complaint. I’ll write more on this crime in another article.
A little more background info, Dexterra also never investigated any of my complaints on bullying which was another violation of the WCA. They were found guilty in Dec 2022 of violating the WCA by failing to investigate. See article in Kitimat Northern Sentinel.
Back to the story. The next day after receiving the particulars was mediation, Crawford was a participant and spoke for the employer. In attendance was also Brad Rickard (HR) and Andrew Desilets (Senior Field Manager). Mediation began with Crawford going over the particulars. There were no discussions over anything Crawford had said and they immediately offered 18k.
I was emailed the settlement offer so I could look at it:
Ms. Pereira was terminated from her employment on September 23, 2020 for continuous breaches of the Company’s Respectful Workplace Policy;
Like hell I was. The settlement agreement didn’t quite match what the particulars said.
I said, not a f**king chance am I going to agree to any settlement based on the premise that I did something wrong. In Voykin’s notes he noted me saying
They’re saying that they don’t agree with employees letting them know when they’re breaking WorkSafe regulations. I’m complaining to them about a breach and they’re using it as part of their grounds for termination.
We told the mediator to tell them to add another zero. They came back with another offer of 26k - 13k for lost wages and 13k for general damages. Again I rejected it.
I sent Crawford and Voykin emails following mediation.
The psychological violence that Dexterra allows to happen in the workplace is appalling and you guys think $13'000 would cover that. The company breached WorkSafe regulations and never investigated complaints on bullying. The company has no case against me and you think i'm going to sign a release as if i'm the guilty one and did something wrong. My claim involves retaliation, WorkSafe violations, group bullying, psychological abuse, defamation, breach of confidentiality, gaslighting, wrongful dismissal and bad faith conduct.
Voykin responded
We've been assured that the settlement being offered is beyond what you would have been awarded if we had won at arbitration, which was not, in the opinion of our lawyer, a likely outcome. The union is going to accept this settlement on your behalf.
After appealing the union’s decision Robert Demand, Executive Director, replied
We would lose this grievance which is why the union decided to settle this grievance
HAHA! say what mofo?
They said they were going to send me the checks, I told them not to but they sent them anyways. When I received the checks in the mail I lit them on fire, made a TikTok video and sent it to Crawford. See video.
The union’s lawyers at the time were Andrew Tarver and Susanna Quail, from Allevato, Quail and Associates. I believe Tarver has since moved on to The Health Employers Association of BC.
It goes without saying that the union is a party to the offence since they signed off on it but this is about Crawford.
For 4 years now Crawford has been filing documents in court that state I was terminated with cause. A blatant lie. The correct wording would’ve been to say ‘allegedly’, meaning it was never proven.
What does the Law Society have to say about dishonesty?
BC Law Society Code of Professional Conduct
3.2-7 A lawyer must not engage in any activity that the lawyer knows or ought to know assists in or encourages any dishonesty, crime or fraud
(c) if the organization, despite the lawyer’s advice, continues with or intends to pursue the proposed wrongful conduct, withdraw from acting in the matter in accordance with section 3.7.
3.7-7 A lawyer must withdraw if:
(b)a client persists in instructing the lawyer to act contrary to professional ethics
5.1-2 When acting as an advocate, a lawyer must not:
(e) knowingly attempt to deceive a tribunal or influence the course of justice by offering false evidence, misstating facts or law, presenting or relying upon a false or deceptive affidavit, suppressing what ought to be disclosed or otherwise assisting in any fraud, crime or illegal conduct;
(g) knowingly assert as fact that which cannot reasonably be supported by the evidence or taken on judicial notice by the tribunal;
[66] Lawyers are held to a high standard when they present evidence and submissions in court. Lawyers should not cause documents containing errors or lies to be placed before the court.
What are your thoughts? Was Crawford just ‘following instructions’ or was he actively aiding his client in finalizing an illegal termination?
Did Crawford have the requisite knowledge that the settlement agreement that he drafted was based on false representations? I think so!
Should he have withdrawn from representation when asked to misstate the law and falsely frame my termination as ‘with cause’ to finalize it?
Did he assist Dexterra in committing fraud?
Has Crawford committed fraud on the courts by lying in over 20 court documents? Is he still aiding his clients in escaping the law through deliberate misrepresentation?
Should he be disbarred?
No wonder employers love this guy.
Subscribe to stay updated on what the Law Society decides to do about Crawford - was he an advocate or an accomplice?
nice to find your substack. nice to read your communications with the BC Law Society.