The founder of a Kelowna-based trivia business has sued the people who were set to purchase the business, alleging a scheme by the defendants to leak confidential documents and devalue the business ahead of sale.
Jayson John Davey, formerly John Patrick Davy, and his business Tremendous Trivia Night Productions filed a lawsuit on May 26 against Stephen Smith and Brady Grumpelt, the parties involved in the sale and purchase of Tremendous Trivia, and People Over Phones Inc., the trivia business started as a result of the failed sale.
On June 23, Smith and Grumpelt filed a counterclaim against Davey, alleging he breached the principle of good faith and duty of honest performance.
Davey and Tremendous made headlines in February after the trivia business posted to social media saying it was parting ways with its founder after staff learned about criminal charges for the possession of child sexual abuse material against Davey from March and July 2025.
Davey has previously been jailed for similar charges. He was working as a Grade 6 teacher at Greendale Elementary School in Chilliwack in 2013, when he was found with more than 27,000 digital child pornography images and 866 videos.
Davy was found guilty in 2014. However, in 2018, a judge sentenced Davy to 26 months in jail for the distribution of child pornography, 24 months to be served concurrently for possession of child pornography, and an additional four months to be served consecutively for a breach of undertaking charge.
The breach relates to after Davy was arrested in May 2013 for the child porn charges. He was then found in Kelowna in September with a computer that had more than 1,000 child porn images.
Davey alleges in the suit that while Smith and Grumpelt were in negotiations over the sale of Tremendous the defendants received information of the criminal investigation in or around January 2026, then taking the information to a newspaper
The plaintiff claims the information was part of a “confidential disclosure” and that, despite an alleged agreement that the information remain private, Davey claims the defendants shared the information on or prior to Feb. 6 with staff of Tremendous and at the same time Smith and Grumpelt resigned from Tremendous.
On or about Feb. 17, Davey’s suit claims the defendants resumed their roles with Tremendous and were in control of the company during interim negotiations. At this time, a letter of intent was entered into for purchase of Tremendous in the amount of $350,000. The suit alleges the letter included a “binding duty of confidentiality” regarding all information provided during negotiations.
Davey’s suit alleges the defendants disclosed the information to cause a mass layoff and that the defendants took the information to a newspaper “with the intention of reducing the value of the plaintiff company for an eventual purchase.” He also claims the defendants tried to solicit employees from his business.
Smith and Grumpelt have denied the allegations.
In October 2025, the defendant’s response claims the plaintiff expressed interest in leaving the company due to a medical condition. The defendants later paid a $30,000 deposit to Davey’s counsel for the business.
Smith and Grumpelt claim it was only after money had been sent that they learned of the charges against Davey when Kelowna RCMP reached out for comment.
Upon concerns from venues, attendees and other clients, the defendants state they tried to renegotiate the royalties that were to be paid to Davey as part of the agreed sale. “It had become clear that operating [Tremendous] in a transparent and commercially viable manner would be impossible if the royalties were paid to Mr. Davey.”
Smith and Grumpelt claim Davey threatened to sue the pair and other employees.
The defendants sought legal counsel, formally terminated the sale agreement and requested their deposit be returned. The deposit was returned on Mar. 19. Later that month, Smith and Grumpelt claim Davey agreed “in principle” to a settlement offer that would see the assets of Tremendous sold to the defendants.
On March 30, People Over Phones was incorporated by Smith and Grumpelt.
In a counterclaim filed, the defendants claim they “suffered loss by altering their employment positions and professional lives in reliance of Mr. Davey’s representations,” and that Davey “provided a false explanation concerning his missing electronics” during sale negotiations. The response to the civil suit states Davey said the electronics were stolen in a robbery, but it had been later learned the devices had been seized by police.
The defendants claim Davey “actively withheld information that would obviously have been decisive to Mr. Grumpelt’s and Mr. Smith’s employment decisions and to their willingness to purchase shares” of Tremendous. Smith is said to have left a full-time position in January 2025 to join the Tremendous team and Grumpelt turned down a job offer in September 2025 after Davey promised Grumpelt ownership stake in Tremendous.
The pair also allege Davey impersonated the defendants and other staff with Tremendous in emails “after venues and attendees refused to do business with [Tremendous] due to its association with Mr. Davey.”
Davey has denied allegations in the counterclaim.
Davey is requesting a permanent injunction on People Over Phones from offering trivia services to any current and former clients of Tremendous, as well as damages for general, punitive, conversion, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and other relief the court deems fit.
Smith and Grumpelt are seeking a judgment against Davey and Tremendous, interest, special costs, and other relief the court deems fit.
On July 10, an additional count of distributing child sex materials was filed against Davey. The charges against Davey have not been proven in court.
Davey is expected to appear in court next on Aug. 13 to consult counsel.
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