B.C. tribunal dismisses claim for $5K in damages for beer-stained sofa

A woman took a restorations company to small claims court over an alleged beer-stained sofa in B.C. (Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman who sought $5,000 in damages to repair a stained custom sofa she claimed a restoration contractor spilt beer on has had her case dismissed by a B.C. tribunal.

According to a decision published June 26, Patricia Gooch took Barclay Restorations Corp. to the Civil Resolution Tribunal seeking the funds alongside an apology for a stain she claims was made while the company was carrying out flood restoration work in her home.

The flooding, which occurred in May 2022 and affected 41 strata lots in Gooch’s building, had resulted in her having to move out temporarily while Barclay was brought in to repair the damage. In July, Gooch’s furniture was put into storage while the work continued.

When the stashed furniture was returned in November, Gooch noticed a “weird, brown, crusty, wavy stain” on her sofa underneath one of the bolsters that hadn’t been there prior to the flood. The couch was not damaged during the flooding, the decision reads.

Gooch told the tribunal the stain and a smell of “old hops” remained even after steam cleaning the sofa twice.

Gooch said the furniture movers and other workers who had been in her home during the flood restoration work had been supervised, while Barclay’s workers had not. She also said she had seen “several red beer cans” in her recycling bin when she visited the home in June, alongside a Barclay employee or subcontractor drinking the same brand of beer on the sidewalk outside. Gooch had suspected the company’s employees had been using her strata lot to “rest and drink in” as it was above the building’s amenity room, the decision read.

Ultimately, tribunal member Megan Stewart dismissed the claim, finding Gooch could not prove that the claimed beer stain was in fact derived from beer, and, even if it was, there was still the factor of the months-long gap between when Gooch last had the sofa and when she found the stain.

“I find this introduces a distinct possibility that someone or something other than a Barclay worker could have caused the staining,” Stewart concluded in the decision.