‘Malicious intent’: Failed romantic relationship leads to forged documents, false allegations, bankruptcy
An Alberta business owner has won $17,500 in a groundbreaking human rights case after her former romantic partner filed false sexual harassment allegations and submitted forged documents.
Tribunal member Dylan Snowdon awarded $12,500 in general damages and $5,000 in costs on January 12, 2026, marking the first time the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal has ordered compensation for a frivolous and vexatious complaint made with malicious intent.
Ken Sparks and Glenda Nielsen had been in a romantic relationship from July 5, 2020, until May 22, 2022.
Between fall 2021 and May 22, 2022, Sparks worked as an independent contractor for Nielsen's company, Alberta Fingerprinting Services.
On Oct. 27, 2022, Sparks filed a complaint alleging that she had forced him to have sex as a condition of employment starting in August 2021, and when he told her he did not want to continue and wanted a relationship of his own, he was immediately fired.
The director of the Alberta Human Rights Commission dismissed the Sparks Complaint on July 7, 2025, as having no reasonable prospect of success. Both Employment Standards and the Canada Revenue Agency found Nielsen and Sparks were never in an employment relationship, with CRA ruling "that, for the period under review, Kenneth Sparks was a self-employed worker and the services were not insurable or pensionable."
The tribunal...
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