Driving Mr. Paralegal

A Tribunal Hearing Division of the Law Society of Upper Canada declined to suspend a paralegal charged with a Uber crime

The responding party is a Paralegal who was licensed in 2015. He was employed by his older son, a lawyer, who acted as his counsel on the motion. The Paralegal was primarily engaged in process serving, and on occasion he spoke to adjournments in traffic court. He had not provided legal services for some time prior to the events set out below.

The motion arose out of an allegation that while acting as an Uber driver on September 23, the Paralegal took the hand of his female passenger (the passenger) and initiated sexual contact with her.

The passenger made a complaint to Uber on Friday, September 23. Uber e-mailed the Paralegal the same day that “We were notified of a situation that may have occurred on a recent trip” and his Uber account was put on hold pending investigation. The following Tuesday, Uber contacted the Paralegal and interviewed him by telephone. Two days later, Uber reactivated the Paralegal’s account, but reminded him:

…Uber maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding all forms of harassment, and under no circumstances should physical contact occur on the trip between the rider and the driver. Future feedback of this nature will force us to revoke your access to the application.

On October 9, the Paralegal was charged with one count of sexual assault. The only evidence before our panel of the specific allegation against him appears in the transcript of the bail hearing on October 11, which we reviewed. As of the release of these reasons, that transcript remains subject to a publication ban ordered by the Ontario Court of Justice pursuant to s. 517(1) of the Criminal Code. The order expires when the Paralegal is discharged or his trial is completed.

I trust that this will serve as a learning experience and won’t be an issue in the future…

Mr. Siziba responded [reproduced in unedited form]:

“Thank you for your investigations into reported incident. I wish to reassert that I take this issue very seriously as a learning point and means to strengthen my future engagements with customers. As I mentioned that, it has always been my motto to adhere to strong code of moral conduct and professionalism in all my business within and outside Uber, I shall endeavor to keep up with the highest service I have maintained throughout my career.

Thank you,for your letter and the strong words therein expressed.

We were informed that the Paralegal resumed driving for Uber, but resolved not to pick up intoxicated passengers. His Uber driving ended a week later. The passenger made a complaint to the police and, upon being notified, the Paralegal surrendered on October 8.

Disposition

In the present case, the conduct has not been proven at this point. While the alleged conduct is undoubtedly serious, it is not of the same magnitude as the proven conduct in Schulz. Moreover, the Paralegal is bound by undertakings and bail conditions that significantly reduce risk to the public or to the administration of justice. Together, these restrictions led us to conclude that the suspension sought by the Law Society would not further reduce the risks, even if we had believed those risks were significant.  

(Mike Frisch)