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Michail has been granted loss of earnings benefits by the WSIB and is seeing a doctor and psychologist for major depressive disorder and an anxiety disorder, the documents said.

She plans to oppose the board’s latest move attempting to declare her a vexatious litigant.

“I’m hurt. . . . They’re doing it with the purpose of silencing me,” she said through tears Monday. “I think it’s wrong.”

In an email, the board declined further comment on the ongoing case, which returns to court in January.

Applications to get individuals declared vexatious litigants are rare, said Jed Blackburn, a partner at Cassels Brock and Blackwell who has represented parties seeking the determination for repeat litigants but is not representing the school board.

“It is an extraordinary remedy that the courts reserve for those rare cases where a party has really abused the legal process and the normal rules are not sufficient to constrain them,” he said.

“There’s quite a high threshold to obtaining them because of their significance.”

Vexatious litigant applications aren’t something the courts take lightly, Blackburn said. There has to be a strong body of evidence to support limiting a person’s right to launch legal proceedings on their own.

“It’s only for when there is a demonstrated record of someone who needs to be controlled by judicial supervision,” he said.

The legal remedy, while uncommon, has an important role in the justice system, Blackburn said.

“When you’re subject to claim after claim, it can really be quite a burden both on . . . the target of the litigation, but also the legal system as a whole,” Blackburn said.

“The courts have limited resources and so the more time they spend dealing with vexatious litigants . . . is time taken away from litigants with real claims that need to be addressed. It’s a protection of the public generally in addition to protecting the targets of the litigation.”

jbieman@postmedia.com

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