Calie Adamson

The applicant appealed an order requiring it to post $175,000 as security for costs under r. 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The motion judge found that the master made palpable and overriding errors in concluding that the corporation was ordinarily resident outside Ontario and lacked sufficient assets in the province.

Evidence showed that the corporation’s directors and officers resided in Ontario and that it held approximately $1.2 million in a trust account in Ontario that was available to satisfy potential costs.

The court held the master misapprehended the evidence and drew unwarranted adverse inferences regarding the accessibility of the trust funds.

The appeal was allowed and the security for costs order set aside.

The plaintiffs moved to certify a proposed product liability class action for settlement purposes and to approve a negotiated settlement and class counsel fees under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The action alleged design and manufacturing defects in certain windows that permitted water penetration and caused wood rot and property damage.

The court held that the requirements for certification under s. 5(1) were met in the settlement context and that a class proceeding was the preferable procedure.

The proposed settlement, which provided compensation through a claims process or expedited arbitration and included no cap on total benefits, was found to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class.

The court also approved class counsel fees of $650,000 as reasonable in light of the risks and work undertaken.

The plaintiffs, operators of cheque cashing and currency exchange businesses, sued a bank for breach of contract after the bank froze their accounts and reversed deposits arising from several fraudulent cheques.

The bank counterclaimed for overdraft balances and sought to enforce personal guarantees and personal liability against the principal of the companies.

The court held the bank acted within its contractual rights under the financial services agreements to reverse dishonoured deposits and debit the accounts.

Evidence showed the principal failed to respect the separate corporate identities, was wilfully blind to obvious indicators of cheque fraud, and used corporate accounts interchangeably for personal purposes.

The court pierced the corporate veil and imposed joint and several liability on the companies and their principal for the outstanding debts and overdrafts.

The applicant beer distributor sought an interlocutory injunction preventing the respondent brewer from terminating a long-standing licence agreement granting exclusive Canadian distribution rights for certain beer brands.

The respondent issued a termination notice based on the applicant’s failure to meet contractual volume targets after an amendment to the licence agreement terminated automatically when industry regulatory changes did not occur.

The court held that serious issues existed regarding the continued effect of a contractual waiver of termination rights and whether the respondent was required to engage in good faith negotiations before exercising termination rights.

The court also found that the applicant would suffer irreparable harm through disruption of its product portfolio, damage to customer relationships, and potential harm to brand equity.

Balancing the parties’ respective harms and favouring preservation of the status quo pending trial, the court granted the interlocutory injunction.