A former cop who specialized in outlaw-motorcycle gangs has won a bid to have his wrongful-dismissal suit heard at trial.

In a decision posted on the B.C. Supreme Court Web site yesterday, Justice Catherine Wedge ruled that Allen Dahlstrom's suit must go to trial, which gives Dahlstrom's lawyer a chance to cross-examine witnesses.

In November, 2002, Dahlstrom was removed as a supervisor on the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia's Outlaw Motorcycle Team, according to Wedge's ruling.

In late 2003, OCABC came under the authority of the RCMP.

Wedge wrote that on December 17 of that year, Dahlstrom was "relieved of all of his policing duties and sent home".

In July, 2004, Dahlstrom was informed that he was being fired. He was offered one year's pay. He refused and instead filed a suit alleging defamation and wrongful dismissal.

He claimed that he was never given a reason for his dismissal.

Dahlstrom has alleged in his statement of claim that OCABC head David Douglas and former RCMP commissioner Beverley Busson fired Dahlstrom "for ulterior purposes, knowing the termination was unlawful and knowing he would be injured by their conduct", according to Wedge's ruling.

Busson was the commanding officer of the RCMP in British Columbia at the time that Dahlstrom was fired.

Wedge noted in her decision that OCABC and Douglas filed a statement of defence in November, 2006 citing three reasons for the firing:

a) Dahlstrom's management of Project Phoenix

b) Dahlstrom's management of his relationships with two employees

c) Dahlstrom's participation in an interview with a journalist who wrote a book about motorcycle gangs

"All three grounds for dismissal contain allegations that Dahlstrom failed to meet the standards of conduct set by the Police Act and the regulation," Wedge wrote.

She concluded that the issues "cannot be resolved properly and adequately unless there is a trial in the ordinary way".

Wedge upheld Dahlstrom's application to have the Justice Development Commission added as a defendant.

Dahlstrom has filed two lawsuits, both naming OCABC and other defendants. Wedge ruled that the trials could take place simultaneously.

In one of the lawsuits, he has named Kevin Begg, a B.C. assistant deputy minister and the director of police services, as a defendant along with Douglas.

Busson is not named as a defendant in either lawsuit.