Nine-year-old case of alleged stolen toonie by Tim Hortons worker delayed again

Charlene Walsh, who was seven months pregnant at the time, and Amanda MacNeil were fired in June 1999 after store managers viewed surveillance video and alleged the workers were seen taking money from a cash register.

Even though the allegation centred around pocketing a $2 coin, Walsh was quickly charged by police with theft under $5,000.

Her lawyer Ernest Guiste said police had enjoyed free food and drinks from the store for years, so they were happy to do the owner a favour by arresting Walsh.

The criminal charge was eventually dropped, but the women launched a multimillion-dollar civil suit against the franchise owner and police. A jury dismissed that suit in 2006. After MacNeil accepted an out-of-court settlement, Walsh continued the legal battle on her own.

She is attempting to sue the franchise owner and Toronto police for $23.75 million.

Walsh was to have her case heard earlier this year, but it was rescheduled for Wednesday before the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto. However, a bizarre sequence of events led the case to be delayed again until Friday.

Guiste began the day seeking a motion to adjourn the case based on videotape evidence not being immediately available for court, and because one of the three judges on the panel, Justice Michael Moldaver, had been previously involved in the case.

Guiste, who is black, said he was also concerned about previous treatment from Moldaver, who allegedly addressed him and his clients as "you people" rather than by name.

The panel of judges rejected those motions, but Moldaver, who said he was "disturbed" and "deeply offended" by Walsh's allegations, decided to step aside so the case could proceed without any further delay or potential for bias.

But after a break in the proceedings, Guiste presented another motion seeking an adjournment, saying the stress of reacting to the judges' decision had left him in bad health and unable to continue.

The judges relented and put the appeal over to Friday.

Lawyers for the defendant were incredulous at the delay and openly mocked Guiste in the courtroom, but they showed restraint when later asked outside court about the case's latest developments.

"I'm not a doctor - I can't say whether Mr. Guiste is feeling sick," said lawyer David Shiller, who represents the franchise owner of the Tim Hortons outlet named in the suit.

"He told the court he was feeling sick and they gave him a short adjournment. There's nothing more I can say about it."

Shiller said the video evidence clearly shows Walsh taking money from the register, and while her lawyer has suggested she was merely taking tip money that belonged to her, she didn't make that argument during her original civil case.

"(The video) was put before the jury ... at great length, in slow motion, in fast motion, in some places frame by frame, and Ms. Walsh in her own words ... described them as looking bad and looking suspicious," he said.

"And the jury heard that and she didn't have an explanation for them."

Shiller also defended Walsh's firing over such a paltry amount.

"A theft is a theft, and even Ms. Walsh admitted in her testimony that it's wrong to steal any amount from the register," he said.

"There's video evidence of a theft, and I think an employer who's in a business such as a Tim Hortons franchise ... has every right to terminate an employee who is found to be stealing."