Kalpesh Patel's lawyer argues that his client has never been near the refinery during the labour dispute and called on Unifor to issue a public apology.

A man whose name and likeness showed up in Unifor’s controversial ‘Meet the Scabs’ video is threatening to sue for defamation unless he gets a public apology, saying he was wrongly identified as a replacement worker and now worries about his livelihood.

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In a letter sent to Unifor’s lawyer Friday afternoon, Regina lawyer William Howe maintains the allegations that Patel is a “Co-op scab” are “completely false and inaccurate.

“Mr. Patel is not a replacement worker for the Co-op refinery nor has he ever been employed by the Co-op refinery,” said the letter, which was copied to the Leader-Post.

“At no time has Mr. Patel been even near the Co-op refinery and specifically since the ongoing dispute between the Union and Management,” it continues.

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But Scott Doherty, executive assistant to the national president of Unifor, said the union remains confident that the video identified the correct person, though he noted that he could not provide a 100-per-cent guarantee.

“We’ve done our due diligence,” he said as of early Friday evening. The video remained online as of 6:45 p.m.

He subsequently added, “we are going to stand by the video.”

Doherty also called it “highly unusual” for a person threatening a lawsuit to copy the media. He still insists Patel was in the refinery complex on Friday and may still be there.

Howe’s letter says Patel has subsequently “received threats.” Howe later clarified to the Leader-Post that he is not necessarily referring to physical threats, but to economic threats to Patel’s role with a local restaurant.

He contends Unifor has been “careless in identifying our client.”

The letter says the photo used comes from Patel’s Facebook page. There are other people with the same or similar names in Regina on that platform.

Howe’s letter gave Unifor until 7 p.m. Friday to remove all video footage and reference to Patel, and to make a public apology on their official Twitter account making clear that he was incorrectly named.

If not, the law firm has instructions to “immediately initiate a statement of claim for libel, slander and defamation” against Unifor Local 594 and its president, Kevin Bittman. Howe said he also plans to sue Unifor itself if necessary, but didn’t know precisely which of its representatives to name in the letter.

Patel will be seeking “significant damages,” according to the letter.

Howe said the 7 p.m. deadline was somewhat flexible, since he couldn’t file a statement of claim with the court until Monday morning. But he’s urging Unifor to act fast.