Justice Peter Lauwers, in a scathing 20-page judgment, has found whistleblower Norman Bourdeau guilty of contempt of court in the ongoing egg-industry legal battles.
Allison Webster, lawyer for L.H. Gray and Son Ltd., successfully argued that Bourdeau was in contempt for continuing to circulate confidential information from electronic files that were placed under court protection here.
The judge not only found Bourdeau guilty, but also said he lacks credibility.
His judgment came hours after Justice Roland Haines in London court dismissed another contempt-of-court charge Webster filed against Bourdeau. Baines said Webster was unable to demonstrate “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Bourdeau “deliberately and willfully” missed a deadline by one week to provide a list of everybody he circulated information and allegations to about Gray’s egg-grading business.
The lawyers are due back in court here Oct. 13 and Lauwers said he will listen then to lawyers arguments about the penalty he should impose.
On that day he is also scheduled to hear a request from lawyer Donald Good, acting on behalf of Svante Lind of Best Choice Eggs, to merge three lawsuits against Gray, Burnbrae Farms and the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board, and then to decide whether information from the electronic files ought to be allowed as evidence and, if so, which files that contain e-mails and egg-grading records.
