A question has been forwarded to me about a person who is trying to interfere with another person’s business for a malicious purpose, most likely revenge. The person is trying to get customers to stop doing business with this other person’s business in order to get revenge for some perceived past slight. I have been asked if anything can be done about the situation.
The first possibility is defamation or slander. If someone is going around spreading lies about another person that has the affect of hurting their employment or business then there may be a claim for defamation or slander. This is a relatively well know cause of action.
There is a second possibility. Outside of the legal community there is a little know cause of action that can protect people in this situation. It is called: “Inducing Breach of Contract” or “Interference with Contractual Relations”. It involves the situation where person A, without legal justification, induces person B to break their contract with C.
To succeed in an action for inducing breach of contract, the plaintiff must establish the following: (1) the existence of a valid contract; (2) awareness by the defendant of the existence of the contract; (3) breach of the contract caused by the defendant; (4) wrongful interference; and (5) damages suffered by the plaintiff.
For example, what if someone wanted to ruin my business and went to one of my customers with the purpose of getting them to fire me. Let’s say, for example, my customer and I had a contract to supply apples for ten years and there was five years left on the contract. My enemy goes to my customer and tells them a bunch of nasty stuff with the intention of getting my customer to break the contract. If my customer breaks the contract then I could sue my enemy for my damages (and possibly my customer).
It is important to note that the “wrongful interference” portion of the claim does not require evidence of malice or ill will. It is sufficient that the defendant knew or ought to have known that his or her conduct would interfere with my contract. If a breach of contract was intended, it is immaterial if the defendant’s motive was something other than harming the plaintiff.
People cannot go around and try to get people fired from their job or hurt their business for some wrongful purpose. Whether it is because your relationship breaks up or you are trying to get back at someone for something you think that they did to you. Messing with someone’s job or business is simply wrong and you can get into lots of trouble.
To assist with the preparation of this article I used Remedies in Tort, by Klar et. al.
If you wish to send in a letter, please email it to legaladvice@gaycalgary.com. Darryl A. Aarbo can be directly reached at Courtney Sebree Aarbo, Barristers & Solicitors, 1138 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 3P3. Visit their website at http://www.csalaw.ca. Phone (403) 571-5133. Fax: (403) 571-5134
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