Andrew J. Winton

This endorsement addresses the determination of full indemnity costs following contempt proceedings.

The plaintiff, Sycor, claimed $280,530.83, while the defendants proposed $216,843.46.

The court reiterated that full indemnity costs cover all reasonably incurred fees and disbursements, not extra services.

The defendants challenged the hourly rates of the plaintiff's counsel and discrepancies in billed hours.

The court found the plaintiff's counsel's rates reasonable for Toronto's Commercial List, dismissing the argument that lower defence counsel rates should be determinative.

The court also rejected the use of outdated Civil Rules Committee cost guidelines for full indemnity costs.

A deduction of $22,000 was made for discrepancies in billed hours for the liability phase, but time spent on a preceding judicial settlement conference was deemed reasonably incurred.

Ultimately, the defendants were ordered to pay Sycor costs of $258,530.83 on a joint and several basis.

In the penalty phase of a civil contempt motion, the plaintiff sought to strike the defendants' pleadings, punitive damages, fines, and costs after the defendants were found to have intentionally failed to produce sales invoices and emails, and swore a false affidavit of documents.

The court declined to strike the pleadings or award punitive damages, noting the documents were eventually produced.

Instead, the court ordered the defendants to pay fines of $7,500 and $5,000 to the plaintiff, costs thrown away of approximately $20,000, and the costs of the contempt motion on a full indemnity basis.

The court issued a costs endorsement following the dismissal of the main action.

West Face Capital Inc. was awarded substantial indemnity costs of $1,239,965 due to the plaintiff's unfounded allegations of soliciting and misusing confidential information, which impugned West Face's integrity and honesty.

Brandon Moyse was awarded partial indemnity costs of $339,500.18, despite also facing integrity-damaging allegations, because he had destroyed evidence at the outset of the litigation, albeit without intent to destroy relevant evidence.

The court found the plaintiff's allegations against West Face and Moyse to be serious and unsubstantiated, justifying higher costs for West Face, while Moyse's conduct warranted a reduction to partial indemnity.

The plaintiff, Catalyst Capital Group Inc., brought an action against Brandon Moyse and West Face Capital Inc. for alleged misuse of confidential information regarding WIND Mobile Inc. and spoliation of documents.

Catalyst claimed Moyse, a former analyst, provided confidential information to West Face, which West Face then used to acquire an interest in WIND.

The court assessed the evidence, including witness credibility, and found no direct evidence of information transfer.

The court also examined the elements of breach of confidence and spoliation.

The action was dismissed in its entirety, with the defendants entitled to costs.

The applicants, members of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), brought a motion for interlocutory orders in a governance dispute concerning a proposed Physician Services Agreement (PSA).

They sought a new notice of general meeting, a revised proxy form, a comprehensive membership list including phone numbers, and the appointment of a neutral chair.

The court dismissed requests for a new notice of meeting, the expanded membership list, and a neutral chair, finding no strong case for intervention on those points.

However, the court granted the request to void the OMA's circulated proxy form, deeming it unhelpful, unclear, unbalanced, and unfair, and directed the OMA to prepare a revised form.

The court exercised its jurisdiction under sections 297 and 332 of the Corporations Act to ensure the fair conduct of the members' meeting and the integrity of the proxy system.

This motion sought to correct the plaintiff's name to include a litigation guardian, Valerie Lummack by her litigation guardian Keith Lummack, due to Valerie's alleged mental incapacity.

The court reviewed conflicting expert evidence regarding Valerie's capacity to instruct counsel, noting discrepancies and the lack of accommodation for her communication deficits in the assessments.

The court emphasized the expert's duty to assist the court and directed the plaintiff's expert to conduct a further clinical interview with Valerie, specifically utilizing accommodations for her communication deficits, or provide reasons why such accommodations are unnecessary, within 30 days.

The defendants were granted leave to file a responding report.

Wrigley Canada Inc. (moving party) sought an interim injunction and an inspection order under Rule 32 to conduct its own environmental testing on the adjacent property owned by Metrus Properties (responding party).

Metrus had sued Wrigley alleging contamination from Wrigley's property and had refused Wrigley access for testing, subsequently beginning excavation work.

The court granted the injunction and inspection order, finding that Wrigley had demonstrated a serious issue to be tried, would suffer irreparable harm if denied access to conduct independent testing before excavation altered the site, and that the balance of convenience favoured granting the order, especially given Metrus's refusal of access and non-disclosure of excavation plans.

The employer brought a motion to stay the employee's counterclaim and refer it to arbitration under a Supplementary Employee Retirement Plan (SERP).

The employee cross-moved for summary judgment, seeking a declaration that certain SERP provisions were unenforceable restrictive covenants and claiming vested SERP entitlements.

The court dismissed the employee's motion for summary judgment, finding genuine issues for trial regarding the enforceability of the SERP's "Detrimental Activity" clause.

The court granted the employer's motion, staying the employee's counterclaim and compelling arbitration as per the SERP's dispute resolution provisions, in line with the public policy favouring arbitration.