A Nova Scotia provincial court judge has lost her bid for a judicial review of a 2023 decision to dismiss her complaint against the court’s former top judge.
Judge Rickcola Brinton had been seeking a review of a ruling by Chief Justice Michael Wood in his capacity as chair of the province’s judicial council.
Wood dismissed Brinton’s bid after she alleged that her rights were violated when former provincial court chief judge Pamela Williams threatened her with suspension for choosing not to disclose her COVID-19 vaccination status.
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In a decision released last week, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers ruled there was no breach of procedural fairness in the case and that Wood’s decision was reasonable.
As well, Brothers concluded that Brinton’s complaint could not support a finding of judicial misconduct.
Brothers wrote that Wood’s decision to dismiss Brinton’s complaint bore “all the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility.”
A separate civil lawsuit filed by Brinton against Williams and the provincial attorney general in September 2023 was struck down by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in October.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
