Richmond, British Columbia – Allison Cockburn, a resident of the City of Richmond, took the city to court after claiming that they had acted in negligence for failing to notify of a paint spill.
After driving through a paint spill, Cockburn sought $400 in the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal hearing, which was the estimated amount needed to remove the paint from the wheels, wheel wells and other areas of her vehicle.
Cockburn alleged that the city was responsible for the cleanup of her car because they had failed to warn drivers of the spill or clean the spill from the road.
The city denied their responsibility, citing that they use a complaints-based system for spills–like the one that impacted Cockburn–because they’re sporadic and unpredictable. Thus, they cannot always react in a timely manner without further public intervention.
When the city was advised of the spill that had impacted Cockburn by BG–a longtime supervisor for the city’s roads and construction development–they said that it had dried and so no further action was needed.
During the tribunal hearing, the City of Richmond was represented by a lawyer who denied negligent behaviour by saying that the city didn’t cause the spill and first learned about it from Cockburn herself.
Due to budgetary constraints, the city noted that they are also unable to regularly inspect the roads for spills, and the tribunal acknowledged that the city was acting in accordance with their stated policies.
Ultimately, Cockburn could not provide evidence that the city’s policy was irrational or unreasonable, leading to the tribunal dismissing her claims.
