When the directors of a publicly traded mining company headquartered in Kamloops realized in early 2024 that they were defending their 3rd active lawsuit from the same plaintiff in 6 years, they faced a question that no board manual had prepared them for: how do you stop a litigant who treats the courthouse as a weapon rather than a forum for resolving genuine disputes? The individual investor who had failed to acquire the company during the 2015-2016 takeover attempt had since launched 5 separate legal proceedings, claimed US$50 million in damages, and consumed untold hours of board attention and corporate treasury. The 2018-2024 litigation period had stretched into something more like a siege than a lawsuit. By the time the court struck 3 remaining actions as abuse of process, the company had learned hard lessons about what the law permits when litigation itself becomes the injury.
This lesson examines how boards respond when shareholder activism crosses from legitimate challenge into vexatious conduct, and what legal tools exist in British Columbia to protect corporate resources from proceedings that serve no purpose other than harassment. The striking of claims as vexatious or as abuse of process represents one of the most powerful remedies a court can grant, and understanding when and how boards may seek that remedy is essential for any governance officer navigating the aftermath of a hostile takeover attempt gone wrong.