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$3.5M “cat trauma” lawsuit against Burnaby co-op dismissed

A woman suing a Burnaby housing co-op for “cat trauma” and other damages has lost an appeal in B.C. Supreme Court.

A woman suing a Burnaby housing co-op for “cat trauma” and other damages has lost an appeal in B.C. Supreme Court.

Zdravka Curic was kicked out of the Rainbow’s End Housing Cooperative at 6088 Wilson Ave. in September 2012 after she fell $5,228 behind on her housing charges, according to court documents.

cat Cat in box/Shutterstock

Her membership had been terminated nearly eight months earlier, but Curic had refused to leave.

When bailiffs arrived to carry out a court order, they found extra deadbolts had been installed inside her front door.

Police had to be called in, and the bailiffs then forced open the doors and packed up and removed Curic’s belongings.

“After the RCMP officers left the scene, the plaintiff and her daughter shouted threats at the directors of the co-op. The plaintiff and her daughter also entered the co-op’s office and made threats to the staff located in the office,” states a May 1 ruling by Justice Kenneth Ball.

Curic applied to the court about a month later to have the seized items returned, but her application was dismissed.

Last August, she launched a $3.5 million lawsuit again Rainbow’s End for the return of the seized property and for damages, including $10,000 for “cat trauma,” $100 for cat food, $2 million for “health damage” and $1.5 million for “accommodation.”

Her claim was dismissed in November, and she appealed, but that appeal was dismissed Wednesday by Ball.

He said many of the damages Curic claimed had been dismissed by the court back in 2012, and “claims, once dismissed, cannot be re-litigated.”

Curic had also not provided any details about “health damage,” according to Ball, and there was no legal basis for a claim that Rainbow’s End had to provide accommodation for Curic.

“The plaintiff was formerly a member of a co-op, but her membership was terminated for arrears of occupancy charges owed to the co-op, which brought to an end her ability to occupy the housing unit,” Ball said.

He dismissed her claim without costs.