A girl says the Ontario authorities is forcing her to pay greater than $15,000 to unpaid staff at a funeral dwelling she insists she by no means owned.
“I do not know what to do. I am misplaced,” Stephanie Brown, 30, informed CBC Hamilton.
Brown mentioned Adam McDowell, her former husband and proprietor of the funeral dwelling, added her title as a director with out her data or consent. The funeral house is now not working.
Brown mentioned she’s completed every part attainable to point out the Ministry of Labour that she should not be liable. Her efforts included sending the ministry a decide’s resolution that states McDowell ought to pay Brown.
Nonetheless, she mentioned, the province continues to be ready for her to pay the cash.
“As a single mother, I haven’t got that cash.… I am feeding my child f–king cereal for dinner each night time,” Brown, who has a four-year-old daughter, mentioned whereas holding again tears.
“It is scary … somebody that is supposed to guard you does this behind your again and completely ruins your life and disappears.”
Brown and the paralegal representing her, Holly Robertson, really feel there ought to be extra safeguards to stop others from ending up in the identical scenario. However an knowledgeable who spoke to CBC Hamilton mentioned this is a one-of-a-kind scenario.
“The workers on this matter deserved to be paid.… It is who they need to be paid by that’s the query right here,” Robertson mentioned. “It is unconscionable. This should not be capable of occur.”
Spouse added as director with out consent, docs present
McDowell declined an interview and would not reply questions on the file.
To collect proof to persuade the province she’s not liable for the misplaced wages, Brown began a civil case towards McDowell.
CBC Hamilton obtained court docket paperwork in that small claims case that element Brown’s circumstances.
Brown and McDowell lived in Hamilton when he opened Brown Funeral Companies.
The Bereavement Authority of Ontario states the now-defunct firm was on Britannia Street East in Mississauga. Federal company info exhibits the corporate shaped in 2018, however Brown notes the funeral dwelling opened between 2020 and 2021.
Brown mentioned she wasn’t concerned with the enterprise. McDowell was making a living with it at first, she added, however issues rapidly fell aside.
The couple formally separated in November 2021, in line with court docket paperwork. Brown now lives in Hanover, Ont.
In January, Deputy Decide Claude Leduc dominated Brown’s ex-husband owed her $28,409 and one other $5,000, however she says she hasn’t acquired any cash. (Submitted by Holly Robertson)
By the spring of 2022, two staff submitted claims to the Ministry of Labour for unpaid wages. These staff did not reply to interview requests from CBC Hamilton.
One declare was for $20,092.64 and the opposite was for $6,815.38, in line with the court docket paperwork and the ministry.
However Brown solely realized of them on Feb. 6 2023, when she acquired letters from the province with orders to pay up.
The letters gave her till Feb. 13 to enchantment. Brown mentioned she missed the enchantment date amid all of the confusion.
In textual content messages filed as displays in court docket, McDowell seems to inform Brown he added her as a director.
“I had no concept … I used to be simply this stay-at-home mother making an attempt to lift the children via COVID,” Brown mentioned within the interview.
Screenshots of textual content messages filed as court docket displays seem to point out McDowell telling Brown he added her as a director to the corporate. (Submitted by Holly Robertson)
McDowell additionally seems to say he would take away her as a director. He despatched screenshots to Brown’s cellphone that seem to point out Brown and McDowell’s father had been added, however had been then eliminated. He backdated their elimination to November 2021.
Within the texts, McDowell additionally seems to inform Brown he was dealing with the debt.
“He mentioned he and his father had been taking good care of it.… I had nothing to fret about,” Brown mentioned.
However in Might 2023, Brown bought one other letter saying she was discovered liable and needed to pay up.
It additionally mentioned she might have the Ontario Labour Relations Board evaluate the scenario, if she filed an utility inside 30 days and paid the total debt.
Brown mentioned she did not have the cash to file an enchantment.
In an effort to show her innocence, Brown had McDowell write and signal a notarized letter in June that said he “informally” added Brown and his father as administrators “with out correct data or consent.”
A notarized letter exhibits McDowell saying he added Brown and Peter McDowell as administrators of the company with out their consent. (Submitted by Holly Robertson)
“Subsequently, I, Adam McDowell, take full accountability for any actions, debt or penalties, as sole director,” reads the letter filed as an exhibit in court docket.
However in August, Brown bought a letter informing her the debt was despatched to the Ministry of Finance for collections. The ministry additionally added a non-negotiable assortment charge of $4,728.17, in line with the court docket paperwork.
In October, the corporate dissolved for not submitting its final two annual stories, in line with Innovation, Science and Financial Improvement Canada (ISED).
In November, Brown mentioned a lien was placed on her automotive. Robertson mentioned Brown can also’t personal a house or another possessions till the debt is paid.
This January, Deputy Decide Claude Leduc dominated McDowell owed Brown $28,409 and one other $5,000, however Brown says she hasn’t acquired any cash. The court docket paperwork present McDowell wasn’t current for the choice and Robertson mentioned he did not take part within the proceedings.
Regardless of the ruling, Brown mentioned she hasn’t acquired any cash from him. Robertson additionally mentioned the province has refused to contemplate the letter and proof.
“It adjustments nothing,” mentioned Robertson, Brown’s paralegal.
Settlement bought 1 director off the hook: province
Whereas McDowell made the adjustments to the corporate via Companies Canada, ISED spokesperson Cheyenne Daly mentioned this case falls beneath the province’s course of.
The Ministry of Finance did not reply to questions from CBC, deferring to the Ministry of Labour.
Anuradha Dhar, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, did not reply questions on why Brown has to pay regardless of the decide’s resolution.
One of many orders, for nearly $7,000, wasn’t paid or appealed throughout the enchantment interval and was despatched to collections, Dhar mentioned.
However the second order, for roughly $20,000, was appealed by the employer and settled on April 15 for $8,000, Dhar mentioned.
“The director paid this straight to 2 staff … [and] is now not liable,” Dhar mentioned, with out figuring out the director.
The opposite two administrators (the province would not title them both) had $8,000 deducted from the unique order quantity — which suggests the province continues to be ready on $15,640.83, in line with Dhar.
Brown mentioned she was by no means informed in regards to the settlement, however has since realized the director who settled was McDowell’s father.
In a textual content message, he informed CBC Hamilton he could not remark as a result of he is “not concerned” within the firm’s operation.
Should you wanted to get consent signed by each single particular person each time a board member modified, it might be an enormous forms.- David Brown, Governance Options
Robertson mentioned if an organization desires so as to add somebody as a director, that particular person ought to be notified and may have to supply verification.
David Brown, government vice-president of the consulting firm Governance Options, mentioned firms can add or take away individuals from companies with out those self same individuals providing verification.
“Should you wanted to get consent signed by each single particular person each time a board member modified, it might be an enormous forms,” Brown mentioned.
He mentioned that in his over 30 years of expertise working with boards, it is the primary time he is heard of a case like this.
This case appears to be a uncommon one, Brown added, as a result of submitting a fraudulent submitting is illegitimate and a “actually severe offence.”
“I feel that is the safeguard.”
Daly, with ISED, mentioned Companies Canada requires individuals making adjustments to director info to certify that somebody who has related data of a company, and is allowed by administrators, gives a signature.
She mentioned Companies Canada “makes it clear” making a false assertion is an offence and abstract conviction. An individual who does so is liable to serve six months behind bars, pay as much as $5,000 or each, in line with the Canada Enterprise Companies Act.
Daly mentioned safeguards in place for a submitting embody the company key — a password an organization will get when it’s first integrated. There’s additionally a two-step verification for ISED accounts and id verification.
She added the act is “primarily meant to be a self-enforcing statute” and “gives aggrieved events with direct entry to remedial motion.”
For now, Brown mentioned she and her paralegal are looking for a approach to get the province to take one other look.
“I really feel helpless.… It is all I take into consideration,” she mentioned. “I am not going to have something for my daughter.”
