A woman was unable to get a court order against her ex — a B.C. relationship coach who assaulted her five years ago — because she couldn’t prove she needed protection.
In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, the woman asked the court to rule that she lived with Nima Rahmany in a spouse-like relationship so she could get a protection order against him.
Under the Family Law Act, the courts may issue an order to protect an at-risk family member if family violence is likely to occur.
She also asked for a conduct order to ban Rahmany from contacting her if the court decided they were not in a spouse-like relationship and did not qualify for a protection order under the Family Law Act.
The woman, who owned a cafe in Steveston, met Rahmany in 2015 when she saw one of his Facebook videos about his philosophy called the “overview method.”
Rahmany was a qualified chiropractor but was transitioning into a career as a relationship coach.
They both adhered to a personal development philosophy called the “Demartini Method,” which claims to help people sort through their emotions with “a systemic pre-determined series of mental questions.”
Rahmany initially offered to help the woman with her gluten allergy through “personal coaching,” according to the court document, and their relationship eventually became sexually intimate in the fall of the same year.
The woman started working in Rahmany’s relationship coaching business and Rahmany told the court they would spend more than 80 per cent of their nights sleeping in the same residence. The woman moved in with Rahmany in 2017.
Between 2016 and 2017, the pair travelled around the world both for work and as a couple.
However, in 2018, Rahmany assaulted the woman and she moved out.
Rahmany received a conditional discharge in 2022 after pleading guilty to two instances of assault in 2017 and 2018. His one-year probation order prohibits him from being in contact with the woman and from attending her residence or places of employment, education or worship.
The victim and Rahmany have not been in contact since early 2019.
No protection needed: judge
B.C. Supreme Court judge Neena Sharma dismissed the woman’s lawsuit, concluding the woman did not live with Rahmany in a marriage-like relationship for two continuous years and they did not have a marriage-like relationship when they did live together.
She acknowledged both parties described the relationship as “volatile” and characterized by “frequent, sometimes intense, arguing and fighting” as well as “physical violence.”
Rahmany also told the court his family was of the Baha’i faith and he would have needed his parents’ written consent before marrying the woman, of whom they disapproved.
The pair never held joint bank accounts or investments and they didn’t hold or lease any property together.
Although the woman pointed to a draft cohabitation agreement as proof the parties were in a marriage-like relationship, Judge Sharma found it to prove the opposite — that Rahmany “had no intention at that point of living with her, due in large part to his divorce experience.”
Judge Sharma also found the pair were not spouses because their entire relationship was volatile and they disagreed on their sexual fidelity to one another.
Other indicators supporting her decision included their financial independence from one another, the lack of a close relationship with each other’s family and Rahmany’s clear reluctance to enter into a spousal relationship due to a previous divorce.
Judge Sharma also rejected the woman’s request for a protection order prohibiting Rahmany from contacting her.
Since the woman and Rahmany aren’t living together, Judge Sharma found she does not have jurisdiction under Family Law Act to do so. She is also not convinced the woman has proven a need for protection.
“The parties have had no contact or communication since early 2019, and there is no other evidence to indicate any future contact was likely,” she wrote.
She also ruled Rahmany would be entitled to recover his legal costs from the woman unless the parties submit a separate request.
For women and children seeking help from violence, Richmond’s Nova House serves as a 30-day safe housing facility, and staff are available 24/7 to respond to crisis calls.
For more resources on intimate partner violence and gender-based violence, click here.
