Allison Taylor

The applicant sought a declaration that its perfected security interest in amounts payable by the City of Toronto to Selectore Ltd. had priority over a garnishment notice served by the respondent Globealive Wireless Management Corp. Globealive argued that the applicant's loan was not in default when the receivable became due, thus precluding the applicant's right to the funds.

The court, relying on section 20(1)(a)(ii) of the Personal Property Security Act, held that a perfected security interest takes priority over a later notice of garnishment, irrespective of whether the secured loan was in default at the time the receivable became due.

The applicant's motion was granted, affirming its priority, and Globealive was ordered to pay costs to both the applicant and the City of Toronto.

The plaintiff moved to remove the defendant's lawyer of record on the basis that the lawyer would be a witness to material facts at trial and that her communications formed the factual foundation for the plaintiff's wrongful dismissal and human rights claims.

The court found that while it was not certain the lawyer would be called as a witness, she was so closely connected to the material facts underlying the action that she was compromised as an advocate.

The lawyer's own words were at the heart of the dispute, putting her credibility in issue and creating a conflict between her role as counsel and participant.

The motion to remove counsel was granted.

The defendants brought a motion to strike various paragraphs of the plaintiffs' Statement of Claim in an action for oppression and breach of fiduciary duty.

The defendants argued the paragraphs were irrelevant, pleaded evidence, constituted conclusions, and were prolix.

The court agreed that many paragraphs, including the 'Overview' and 'Detailed Background' sections, contained evidence, argument, and irrelevant information that could prejudice a fair trial.

The court struck the offending paragraphs and headings with leave to amend, while allowing the plaintiffs to maintain allegations related to the breach of fiduciary duty claim.

The defendants moved for several orders in a wrongful dismissal action, including injunctive relief restricting the plaintiff’s direct contact with them and sanctions for the plaintiff’s failure to pay multiple outstanding costs awards.

The court held that a master lacked jurisdiction to grant interlocutory injunctive relief under the Courts of Justice Act and adjourned that portion of the motion to be heard by a judge.

The court found the plaintiff had failed to pay four costs orders totalling $6,160 and that no appeals remained pending.

Applying Rules 57.03(2) and 60.12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court rejected the plaintiff’s claimed inability to pay and concluded that sanctions were warranted.

The action was stayed until the outstanding costs are paid, with leave to the defendants to seek dismissal if payment is not made within three months.

Following dismissal of the defendants' summary judgment motion, the court determined the plaintiff's entitlement to costs.

The court applied rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and assessed objections to the plaintiff's bill of costs, including pre-motion entries, client communications, clerical work, and factum preparation time.

The court rejected a substantial indemnity award but found the claimed partial indemnity fees and disbursements were within the range the unsuccessful moving parties should reasonably have expected.

Costs were awarded to the plaintiff on a partial indemnity scale in the amount of $36,330 plus disbursements of $2,567.21, inclusive of applicable taxes.