Whistleblower Norman Bourdeau has gone on the offensive in
court actions involving Bill Gray and his L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd.
One is a contempt charge against Gray for failing to show up
for an examination by Bourdeau on March 8. Bourdeau is also asking the court to
throw Gray in jail for contempt.
Gray’s lawyer, Allison Webster, says the court
action to which this examination relates has been withdrawn by Bourdeau, so she
says Bourdeau’s contempt motion will fail.
The other court action repeats many of the claims Sweda
Farms Ltd. has filed in a lawsuit against L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd., Burnbrae
Farms Ltd. and the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board.
The defendants in that case deny any wrongdoing. They have
not yet filed a defence against Bourdeau’s new allegations.
Bourdeau’s long list of accusations includes:
·
Price fixing since Jan. 31, 2000, to present;
·
Conspiracy to lessen competition in the
production, grading and sale of both domestically-produced and imported eggs;
·
Illegal rebates and exclusivity contracts with
retailers, including Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Wal-Mart, Costco and Longo’s;
·
Illegal packaging of cracked and dirty eggs in
Grade A cartons;
·
Manipulating grades to the detriment of
producers and the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board;
·
Manipulating the system governing importing of
eggs;
·
The collection of secret commissions by Scott
Brookshaw, a senior employee of Gray, from Bailey Construction and Mohr
Construction;
.
·
Witness tampering;
·
Destruction of company records;
·
Counselling employees to commit perjury and
pressuring employees into refusing to act as witnesses.
Bourdeau is seeking $10,000,000 in damages plus $5,000,000
in punitive damages.
