Equestrian Management Group (EMG) and Mac McQuaker announce that the lawsuit commenced one year ago by Liz Shaughnessy and Martin Headland on behalf of Tournament of Champions has been dismissed by the courts.
“Shaughnessy and Headland had no legal authority to commence an action on behalf of Tournament of Champions, yet they made very serious allegations against EMG and Mac McQuaker as if they had the authority,” said Tim Danson, attorney for EMG and McQuaker. “Misrepresenting that authority was extremely ill-advised.”
In an unprecedented act, Shaughnessy and Headland went to the media with their inflammatory and untruthful allegations prior to even serving their statement of claim on EMG and McQuaker. Danson argued in court that this was a very serious misuse of the court process.
The motion came before the Honourable Justice Wailan Low on August 25, 2011. Justice Low described what Shaughnessy and Headland had done as an “ill-conceived strategy,” so much so that the court not only dismissed the action brought by Tournament of Champions, but also held Shaughnessy and Headland personally liable for the legal costs of the motion and the Tournament of Champions action.
When challenged over their authority and legal right to commence an action on behalf of Tournament of Champions, and their legal right to make egregious allegations against EMG and McQuaker as if they were being made by Tournament of Champions, Shaughnessy and Headland demonstrated indifference and disrespect towards the defendants and the law. This left EMG and McQuaker with no choice but to bring a motion against Shaughnessy and Headland to dismiss the action they brought on behalf of Tournament of Champions.
The lawsuit was prematurely announced in the media during the 2010 Canadian Show Jumping Tournament held at the Caledon Equestrian Park in Palgrave, ON. EMG and McQuaker were put in the untenable position of being unable to respond to the allegations as they had no knowledge of the action. The conclusion of these legal proceedings came just prior to this year’s Canadian Show Jumping Tournament.
“It is a great relief to have this aspect of the litigation resolved,” said Craig Collins, Managing Partner of Equestrian Management Group. “It was a major shock to be advised of this action through the media last year during this tournament. It has been a distraction for the past 12 months, and we are pleased to have the courts agree with us that Shaughnessy and Headland’s actions were inappropriate and contrary to law.
“We are delighted with the outcome, and now that the Tournament of Champions action has been dismissed, we can focus our attention on this year’s Canadian Show Jumping Tournament.”
For more information on the Canadian Show Jumping Tournament, please visit http://www.equiman.com/.
More from Horse Sport:
