Two Langley Township councillors have dropped out of a libel lawsuit against a fellow councillor and other prominent locals, but the mayor is still suing.
B.C. court records show a notice of discontinuance was filed by lawyers for Councillors Rob Rindt and Tim Baillie in Vancouver Supreme Court. Discontinuance means the plaintiffs have dropped their lawsuit.
However, Mayor Eric Woodward is still suing seven people: Coun. Kim Richter and her husband Bob Richter, former longtime Langley MLA and provincial cabinet minister Rich Coleman, Langley business owner Thomas Martini and his company, Lorval Developments, political operative Micah Haince, and Jean Francoi Louis Hardy and Kalim Kassam, along with companies associated with some of the other defendants.
The original lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs were libelled by an article on a website called Langley Monitor in 2024, and videos posted by the Langley Township Watch Facebook page in early 2025.
The article and videos all made claims that a “political insider” got a special deal when the Township purchased new fire trucks in 2024.
None of the claims in the lawsuit, or the counterclaim launched by the Richters, has been tested in court. The defendants all filed statements denying any wrongdoing.
Baillie said that the things he wanted to see as a result of the lawsuit have occurred.
“The point’s been made,” he said, adding that he was not in the case for money.
Woodward was clear that he planned to continue to pursue the case.
“It will and must continue to hold Coun. Richter, Rich Coleman and Thomas Martini, and others accountable for their actions…” Woodward said via email.
The Langley Advance Times has reached out to Rindt as well.
Woodward, Baillie, and Rindt filed the lawsuit together on May 1, 2025, but the original defendants were listed as John Does, because the posts and videos were made anonymously.
Between May and August 2025, court orders allowed lawyers to uncover who had established the Facebook pages involved, and the defendants names were added to an updated lawsuit at the end of the summer.
Woodward, Baillie, and Rindt are all members of the Progress For Langley slate on council, while Richter recently joined the rival Langley Strong slate, which will go head-to-head with Progress in this October’s civic elections.