Christopher Cosgriffe

The plaintiff developer purchased limited partnership units back from the defendant investor.

The plaintiff mistakenly calculated the purchase price based on an assumed original investment of $300,000 instead of the actual $150,000, resulting in a windfall to the defendant.

Upon discovering the error, the plaintiff sought rectification or rescission.

The court found that the transaction proceeded on a common mistake and that the defendant could not rely on the entire agreement clause to take advantage of an obvious error she could have verified.

The court granted the plaintiff equitable relief, allowing the defendant to elect between rescission or rectification (returning the $132,300 overpayment).

Following the dismissal of the applicants' request to remove a boundary tree, the successful respondents sought costs.

The respondents had made an offer to settle prior to the hearing, which the applicants did not accept.

The court awarded the respondents costs on a partial indemnity scale up to the date of the offer and on a substantial indemnity scale thereafter.

The court found the respondents' counsel's hourly rates and staffing choices reasonable, fixing total costs at $77,000 inclusive of disbursements and HST.

The applicants sought an order authorizing the removal of a mature boundary tree shared with the respondents to facilitate a home extension.

The applicants argued the tree constituted a nuisance because its protection zone prevented their proposed construction.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the tree did not interfere with the applicants' current use and enjoyment of their property, but only with their desired enhancement.

The applicants failed to demonstrate that the tree was a substantial and unreasonable interference or that there were no reasonable alternative designs for their renovation.

The plaintiff moved for summary judgment against her former employer, claiming wrongful dismissal and breach of her employment contract.

The core issue was whether her contract automatically renewed for an additional year because the employer failed to provide a 30-day notice of non-renewal prior to the end of the initial three-year term.

The court found no genuine issue requiring a trial, interpreting the contract to mean it had automatically renewed.

The court awarded the plaintiff her base salary and performance bonus for the remainder of the initial term plus the one-year renewal period, but denied her claims for health insurance stipends and office expenses.

The plaintiff, former president and CEO of the defendant investment management company, sued for constructive dismissal and breach of contract after the employer refused to pay a 10% bonus on a capital gain realized from a real estate joint venture.

The employer counterclaimed, alleging the plaintiff breached his duties by failing to secure an asset management agreement for the project.

The Superior Court of Justice found that the plaintiff was contractually entitled to the bonus, awarding $329,687.00, as the capital gain was not specifically excluded from his employment memorandum.

However, the court dismissed the constructive dismissal claim, finding that the dispute over a one-time bonus calculation did not evince an intention by the employer to no longer be bound by the contract.

The employer's counterclaim was dismissed as entirely without merit, and the plaintiff was granted indemnification for his costs in defending the counterclaim pursuant to a corporate indemnification agreement.